The ruling Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) on Sunday clarified that Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on June 13 in New Delhi had clearly stated that the demand and desire of the Nagas for integration of all Naga contiguous areas was ‘genuine’.
On the recent case of his interview to a section of the electronic media in New Delhi that after meeting with the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and officials of the Government of India, the Chief Minister only stated what was conveyed to him and the State Government, NDPP media and communication committee said in a release.
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“The transcripts of the television interview of the Chief Minister are available in the public domain for everyone to analyze,” it stated.
The release further pointed out that Rio also stated that the Centre had relayed that physical integration is not possible, which was the point of discussion. This was relayed to the Chief Minister and his delegation by the Centre, the NDPP said and added “therefore, they are not his personal views and neither the party’s views or the PDA Government’s views”.
In fact the statements was misinterpreted and sensationalized by sections of the media, the NDPP clarified. Rio is the leader of NDPP.
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Meanwhile, the NSCN (IM) has asserted that the issue of integration of “all the Naga territories is an integral part of the ongoing Indo-Naga political dialogue”.
In a statement on Sunday, the outfit said the Indo-Naga political talks sans integration of all the contiguous Naga areas will be a futile exercise. “Naga territories which have been kept apart arbitrarily and indiscriminately by the British in the first place and then further divided between Burma (now Myanmar) and India under Nehru without the knowledge and consent of the Naga people is totally unacceptable,” it said.