Oken Jeet Sandham
Kohima, Nov 17 (NEPS): Nagaland Minister for Planning and Urban Development and the president of the major ruling NPF, Dr Shurhozelie made it clear that the DAN Government had never said to bring settlement to the Naga political issue. “What we have been saying all along is we will play our part to facilitate the peace process and in the event of any political settlement being made, we will pave the way for the new dispensation,” he told NEPS here on Friday.
The Minister rubbished the statements of the Congress that the DAN would bring solution to Naga problem within three months if they were voted to power. The same thing the Congress president Hokheto Sumi had been telling and such nature of his political stature was simply exposed. He was even “comparing me as a frog while he as a bull.” “I never know I am too small before him.” He pointed out. “But I want to remind him that the frog is running the Government.” Dr Shurhozelie said Hokheto put all the lies to him and this had come to what Bernard Shaw once called it: “He knows nothing thinks he knows everything.” “Such political careers are common,” he averred.
The Minister disclosed as to how they had even tried to bring unity amongst the Naga underground factions by sending their people to meet them one after another, besides making fervent appeals to all of them---be it NSCN-IM or NSCN-K or NNC/Federal---to come together. “But as a State Government, we can’t impose everything on them because they (NSCN-IM and NSCN-K) are now having direct contacts with the Government of India,” he pointed out.
Dr Shurhozelie also said they as opposition party welcomed the ceasefire agreements when they were signed between the Government of India and the NSCN-IM in 1997 and later with the NSCN-K in 2001. “We take it to be positive steps taken by our national workers,” he mentioned. “And when we come back to power in 2003, we have decided to support this ongoing peace process and we put it even in our manifesto and still continuing with the same objective.”
“We also keep appealing to both the conflicting parties (the two NSCN factions and the Government of India) to come to negotiate for early political settlement,” the NPF chief stated, adding, “We will continue to play our role till settlement to the Naga political issue is arrived at and when they are going in the right direction, we are 100% in their support.”
