Several organisations in Nagaland have appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to defer the Nagaland State Assembly elections, demanding a solution for the seven-decade-long Naga insurgency.
The 60-member Nagaland Assembly’s term comes to an end on March 13, 2018.
According to IANS, the Nagaland Tribes Council (NTC), the Central Nagaland Tribes Council, the Gaon Burrah Federation of Nagaland (GBFN), and a people’s movement called Against Corruption and Unabated Taxation have written to the prime minister through separate representations.
On August 3, 2015, the central government and the separatist group, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland Issac-Muivah (NSCN-IM) signed the Framework Agreement to end the insurgency.
Last year, the government had also signed an agreement with a Working Committee comprising six Naga National Political Groups.
The NTC stated that it was deeply distressed at the prospect of Assembly elections, as it could be a distraction from the peace process.
In the memorandum, the NTC informed Modi that more than 40 NGOs had gathered on December 9, 2017, at Dimapur and unanimously resolved to prefer a solution to election.
‘All these voices of the people were being raised for one single objective of eradicating chaos and confusion and having lasting peace and progress,’ the NTC stated.
Appreciating the Prime Minister’s commitment to solve the Naga insurgency issue, the GBFN said, “Elections at this hour would most likely jeopardise the Prime Minister’s desire for peace. A political solution to the seven-decade long Indo-Naga political issue must be given greater importance over the democratic electoral exercise.”
The Nagaland Assembly last year had adopted a resolution urging the central government to take emergent and extraordinary steps for an ‘honourable and acceptable solution’ before the Assembly election.
Source: IANS
