NPF, legislature party decry NDPP statement

Dimapur, Jan. 18 (EMN): The Naga People’s Front (NPF) and its legislature party have accused the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) of attempting to “confuse, brainwash, cheat, mislead and miseducate (sic)” the people of Nagaland concerning the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. They issued separate rejoinders to the NDPP statement published in the local newspapers on Friday. According to the NPF, NDPP acting as the guardian of law and projecting Article 371 (A) as the ultimate cure that can protect Nagas from the controversial Bill has proved futile “because NDPP is not the interpreter nor (sic) the guardian of the Indian Constitution.” It stated that the NDPP should first clarify why the current government is “not opposing but supporting” the Bill. The NPF asked if the village institutions or the village councils were the sole authority of granting citizenship to “illegal immigrants or outsiders.” Once the Bill is passed, it stated, Nagaland cannot be exceptional as any foreigner settling in any part of the country for a period of six years can obtain Indian citizenship. The NPF claimed that the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill directly undermines Article 371 (A) “as the Article itself cannot override the Constitution of India.” It requested the NDPP not to politicise the issue but take up the matter “for the future of the Naga people.” In a separate statement the NPF legislature party asked why the “NDPP would intentionally like to cheat, mislead and miseducate (sic) the people of Nagaland by imparting wrong information/wrong education, which is totally unbecoming of a political party ruling the state today.” It also termed the NDPP statement as mischievous. “The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 and 1955 relates to granting of Indian Citizenship whereas 1873 BEFRA vis-à-vis Inner Line Permit is granting of permission to visit certain place/region for a certain period of time. These two subjects cannot and should not be clubbed up together but should be always different because it is different to each other by law. “The NDPP states that village councils can grant citizenship as per 371 (A) of Constitution of India. It is totally wrong and mischievous and intentional misleading of Naga people. The Act of Parliament, in regard to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 is to grant citizenship of India but not for citizenship of a village, thus the argument of bringing the village councils or Nagaland Village & Area Council Act 1978 into the picture is irrelevant,” the statement read. It also stated that the state government asking for review of the bill was misleading “given that their MP in Lok Sabha Mr. Tokheho Yepthomi has not raised his objection in the LS.” “The NDPP has stated that Nagaland has been exempt from the purview of the 73rd Constitution Amendment of 1992 since it will amount to infringement of provision of 371(A). We could not agree more on this, which was done during the Congress regime in the state as well as centre. Can we expect the same of the NDPP and its coalition partner to do the same? “As a matter of fact, it is not at the discretion of the BJP party in Delhi, because their party is not in majority in Rajya Sabha. Therefore, it cannot be passed as simple as it was passed in Lok Sabha. Moreover, there cannot be two laws in respect of one issue, in the sense that a bill cannot differ between Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. In other words, if this CAB has to be reviewed, it has to go back to LS before it is finally passed in RS. This is the parliamentary procedure,” the statement read.