Dimapur, April 9 (MExN): The Council of Naga Baptist Churches Secretary General, Rev Dr VK Nuh today stated that the 2001 census cannot be taken as the yardstick for determining the delimitation exercise as there are some anomalies in the census and at the same time stated that if the Delimitation Commission of India arbitrarily delimit the constituencies against the state government’s will, then it would be detrimental to the progress of vibrant and healthy democracy and will not be acceptable to any right conscientious democratic citizen.
A press release received here from the CNBC General Secretary, Rev Dr VK Nuh, while airing out his views on the present delimitation fiasco among the different tribes and districts, stated alleged that there was some manipulations and anomalies while making the 2001 Nagaland census and commended the state government for rejecting it.
“The census 2001 which suffers from gross anomalies and negates completely the rationale of biological birth rate cannot be used as the bench mark for delimiting the representation of the public,” stated the Reverend
“The right decision taken by the Government of Nagaland to reject the census 2001 on accounts of anomalies is commendable. This is in the true spirit of upholding Christian principles and tenets” the Reverend added.
In the light of this, the Reverend stated that going by the present trend of the delimitation exercise, it appears that the situation is not going to be different if census 2001 is taken as the yardstick for determining the delimitation because there seems to be a pre contemplated manipulation by some sections of Naga society during the enumeration of 2001 census for delimiting constituencies.
The Reverend also stated that delimiting the assembly constituencies arbitrarily by the Delimitation Commission of India on the basis of 2001 census, which will be contrary of the State Government and public aspiration, would be detrimental to the progress of vibrant and healthy democracy and will not be acceptable to any right conscientious democratic citizen.
The CNBC Secretary General also stated that with the coming of electoral politics, the values of greater collective welfare which was held supreme by all the citizenry have been relegated to the rear and greed, selfish interest, immediate political gains and ambitions took the better of us.
In this regard, the Reverend stated that the constitutional exercise of Delimitation of Assembly Constituencies undertaken in every 25 years in India, to which Nagaland is no exception, is a classic example of how ‘our selfishness has overtaken our greater common welfare.’
The Reverend stated that the last delimitation exercise was no better than the present as there were also political manipulations.
“The last delimitation exercise carried out in 1973 witnessed political machination and manipulation. Innocent and voiceless people were deprived of the rights and entitlements,” the Reverend stated.
In this regard, the Reverend stated that the delimitation exercise, which attempts to be fair and just should be rightly implemented in letter and spirit and not based on fallacious and erroneous statistics of population which are demeaning, shameful and unbecoming of a Christian.
The Reverend came out openly in support of the Nagaland state proposal to the Government of India to increase the existing 60 Assembly Constituencies to that of 80 seats, a move which the Reverend termed as ‘reasonable, and justified for the present state leadership to pursue the dispensation. Supporting this view, the Reverend stated that this proposal of the state government has been provided under the framework of the of the erstwhile three hill districts when Nagaland was declared as the 16th state of the Indian Union.
However, the Reverend, while looking at the brighter side of Nagaland statehood, stated that the statehood has brought about many positive changes in the lives of the Nagas.
“It is common knowledge that the statehood has ushered in many good things for the Nagas and also wrought havoc into our ethic, principles and cultural values of our people” the Reverend stated.
