I am deeply pained and anguished at the manner in which the
NFHRCC chose to humiliate the Hon'ble Minister of Roads and Bridges, Mr G Kaito
Aye in the ongoing foothills road project. As a layman, it is understood that
the Hon'ble Minister was simply sticking to the established rules and
procedures as no contractor is legally bound to sign any agreement/contract
with any other entity/NGOs other than the Government from whom it has obtained
contract works. By doing so, the contractor will become answerable to two
separate entities which is impractical.
The Foothill Road project was initially started with the
noble intent of providing free, secure and unhindered passage to the Naga
peoples as travellers were constantly harassed while passing through Assam, for
which the people wholeheartedly supported the NFHRCC with good intentions. But
the present leaders of NFHRCC seem to have hijacked the noble cause to fulfill some
of their hidden interests and agenda. The Hon'ble Minister of Roads and Bridges
is 100% right in his statement when he asserted that the contractor is
answerable only to the
Government with whom it has signed the contract and no other
authority/NGOs. As a concerned citizen, I am suspicious of the activities of
NFHRCC when they chose to humiliate a very senior leader who has been elected
by our people 7 (seven) times to represent us in the Nagaland State Legislative
Assembly. By humiliating him, the NFHRCC has particularly humiliated the whole
constituency he represents (36 A/C) and the entire Nagas in general. According
to the established norms, any NGOs can play the role of Pressure Group to
ensure that the developmental projects in its jurisdiction are carried out as
per the specification. But, the demand for executing an agreement with an NGO
before carrying out developmental contract works, which was awarded by the
Government, is outside the purview of the rules and procedures and the NFHRCC
seems to be harbouring some evil intent. According to my understanding, apex
tribal organisations such as Sumi Hoho, Western Sümi Hoho and others should
abrogate its association with NFHRCC as its present leaders seems to have
swerved away from its original purpose and agenda which has been diluted
halfway. Why should we continue to be associated with any organisation which
chose to humiliate our leader unabashedly? According to my opinion, the so
called NFHRCC should be disbanded and the onus of playing the role of Pressure
Group to ensure quality work should be delegated to all the tribal hohos in
their own jurisdiction. It is high time that the Nagas have a lifeline
connecting the length and breadth of the state, but vilification of a respected
public figure at the altar of development is utterly condemnable and
unacceptable.
