DIMAPUR: Nagaland Congress has expressed concerns over union home minister Amit Shah summoning the Eastern Nagaland People’s Organisation (ENPO) to discuss its “Frontier Nagaland” state demand.
“The union home minister summoning the ENPO to discuss the demand for Frontier Nagaland state on October 18, 2022, is a serious concern for the Congress and perhaps for all those who love Nagaland,” Nagaland Congress president K Therie said on Thursday.
According to Therie, the subject is to divide Nagaland state which may even result in losing Article 371(A) by the state in the way J&K lost Article 370.
The Nagaland Congress chief said the union home minister may also make a promise in the manner he did to the “insurgent Kukis” for votes.
Nagaland Congress has demanded that the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) government in the state make its stand clear to the people and the government of India on the demand for “Frontier Nagaland” state.
On August 26, the ENPO resolved to abstain from participating in any state or central election process till its demand for separate “Frontier Nagaland” state is met.
Also read: Empowered women are a powerful tool for progress: Nagaland governor
Therie alleged that it was the design of the government of India to counter the demand for Naga integration, fuelled by the BJP and alliance (NPF) government’s negligence, suppression, injustice and inequality in development activities and job distribution.
Saying that the Congress had appealed to rethink on the demand, he said the party assured to relocate the department of underdeveloped areas and committed a mini-secretariat at Tuensang which is situated in eastern Nagaland.
He said the objective was to enable planning, supervision and disbursement of payments there itself.
Lamenting that the proposal was rejected by the poll mandate, the Nagaland Congress chief said: “We still feel there is a need to pay special attention in matters of road connectivity and other basic infrastructures.”
Alleging that Rs 300 crore meant for eastern Nagaland vanished into thin air, the Nagaland Congress chief said that other funds are drawn with no significant works seen on the ground for the last 20 years.