Dimapur, Oct. 15 (EMN): The renewed spat between two old rivals, the Congress and the BJP in Nagaland, appears to be without an end in sight even as the Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee on Monday claimed that it alone has the moral right to speak about the history of Nagaland state.
The party issued a statement saying that the BJP leaders in Nagaland were “just parroting the words of their high command when it comes to bluffing the Nagas.” It also accused the Nagaland BJP’s chief spokesperson, formerly a Congress youth president, of indulging in distortion of history.
“The state of Nagaland was gifted by the then Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru who went out of the way to pass the Nagaland Statehood Bill despite opposition and dissenting voices in Parliament. We owe all what we have today to the Congress party and its leaders that gave us the benefit of statehood and Article 371A where our religion, culture, social practices, land and its resources are protected. Therefore, Congress alone has the moral right to speak about the history of Nagaland state,” the statement read.
Even the current ‘peace process’, it stated, was the culmination of Congress’ commitment to the people of Nagaland after former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi offered to talk with Naga political groups without any pre-condition in Dimapur in May 1991, two days before his death in Sriperumbudur. “This commitment was fulfilled by the then Prime Minister Narashima Rao who sent out various political emissaries in contacting leaders of Naga political groups that finally resulted in ceasefire being signed in July 1997 and beginning of peace talks that is continuing till today.”
It stated that the BJP’s role in “Naga political peace process” was limited to words and assurances. “During 2014 Lok Sabha elections, BJP and its PM candidate Narendra Modi assured Naga political solution within 18 months of coming to power. The much-acclaimed Naga Accord/Naga Framework Agreement signed on Aug. 3, 2015, which Prime Minister Modi claimed to have solved the decades old Naga problem forever and that too on foreign soil (Dubai), is yet to see the light of the day. In Mar. 2018, the governor of Nagaland proudly promised Naga political solution within 6 months, but it has stretched into 8 months without any signs of conclusion.
“Therefore, when BJP Nagaland questions Congress’ contribution to the state and in the Naga political peace process, it only exposes their (BJP) hollowness and bankruptcy of ideas to address issues faced by the state. The only achievement of BJP is to keep bluffing people and the nation. This was candidly admitted by their senior leader and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari that BJP indulged in making tall promises to win elections and when people reminds them of promises, they just laugh and move on,” it stated.
Also, it claimed that “all the regional parties in Nagaland have become the B team of BJP and have lost track of governance issues.”
