DIMAPUR, MARCH 10 (MExN): The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) has pointed out that the NPF’s idea of integration was rejected by the people because it was smeared with a hidden political agenda to cling on to power in Nagaland. “The point here is not the humiliating electoral defeat but the fact that 4/5th of the Naga people in the hills district of Manipur had rejected their idea and approach to integration”, stated the NPCC while adding that the NPF had no real concern for the Nagas in Manipur and “it was smeared with a hidden political agenda to cling on to power in Nagaland”.
Stating that the post-election anger of the NPF was perceptible from its rejoinder, the NPCC pointed out that “they are in depressed mood”. “The injury of electoral debacle in Manipur election has no doubt made them ferocious. Now the NPF is biting the dust and sulking”. The NPCC also argued that the NPF’s entry into Manipur turned out to be “a blessing in disguise for Ibobi Singh and the Congress” while pointing out that Ibobi Singh had not campaigned even once in hill constituencies. “This goes to prove that the people had voted voluntarily without any outside influence”.
Pointing out that the NPF had no real concern for the Nagas in Manipur, the NPCC stated that the “people know very well that the Nagas, wherever they may be, have never been separated emotionally”. “They also understand that even if all the 20 assembly seats in the hill districts are won by the Nagas, it still falls short of the required number to move the agenda on the floor of the Manipur assembly. They know very well that, despite the fact that the constitution of India is accommodative in spirit, with a strong opposition from the majority Meitei, the reality of the present constitutional arrangement could not be undone without a consensus”.
The NPCC stated that the “confrontationist approach of the NPF had only damaged the chances of all peaceful negotiations across the table” and that the NPF had “severed the ties of mutual trust that existed between the two communities”. On the stand of the Nagaland Congress on integration issue, the press note reminded that of the four assembly resolutions on integration of all contiguous Naga areas as enshrined in Clause 13 of 16-points agreement, one of them was passed in 1994 under Congress regime headed by Dr. S.C. Jamir as the then Chief Minister of Nagaland. “So, how could the NPF charge the Congress that it is against integration?” The NPCC stated that it had been consistent in its stand that it is not against integration provided the Nagas living in neighboring States are willing. “Integration could not be imposed against the will and wishes of the people in question”.
Stating that the people of Nagaland had done everything possible under its disposal through the Nagaland Legislative Assembly, the NPCC pointed out as to what more the people of Nagaland could do “when 4/5th of the Nagas in Manipur had voted against it in the referendum?” “Before questioning the Congress of what it has done for integration, the NPF should spell out what it has done for integration. As far as the integration issue is concerned, the NPF’s only contribution is taking the issue in retrograde direction. They have blocked all diplomatic channels for peaceful solution”.
