On Naga Political Issue: Why Remained Evasive from Walking the Talk?
Published on Jun 10, 2025
By EMN
- Nagaland has been in mess politically, socially and
economically during the last 20 years. As a matter of fact, the Naga National
political groups, after having entered into ceasefire agreements with the GoI
and running their respective governments, people are being overtaxed. During
2017, there were only 10 Naga National Political Groups when the Agreed
Position was signed between the GoI and the WC, 7 NNPGs. People say that today
we have 26/27 NNPGs. People are helpless to stop the breeding of new groups and
as we watch the number will continue to grow. More groups means more taxations
on the populace in Nagaland in particular. In a more freer and congenial
environment, the State economy has been over-milked to the peril of the poorer
section of the society. The troubled water so created in Nagaland is to the
delight of the exploiters who are hell bent to keep the prevailing situation in
its status quo so that they continue to enjoy their paradise at the very
expense of the suppressed section.
- As of today, the tribal bodies, the
civil organisations and the NGOs, which are supposed to protect and safeguard
the common man from the illegal exploitation, prefer to either remain as mute
spectators or join the bandwagon of the exploiters. The existing situation of
chaos, the absence of rule of law in every aspect of governance, the
highhandedness in nepotism and State’s sponsor of epicureans are the major
reasons for the retrogression in developments of the second oldest State in NE
to say the least. This being the ground reality, whether anyone bothers as to
how large hearted, particularly those in power, to let the next generation
inherit these shambles from them? Not only the next generation but the next new
Chief Minister and his ministry will inherit huge backlog of (loan) debt
servicing, thousands of crores of deficits, huge salary component for excess
recruitments in every Department, etc. beside the taxation menace. What the
Bible says in Lamentations 5:7 “Our fathers sinned and are no more, but we bear
their iniquities” will be fulfilled.
- Recently,
the Union Govt. has encouraged the big business houses to have investments in
NE by which thousands of crores may now flow to all the 7 NE States in the
investments skipping out Nagaland as per the media. I heard that the Govt. of
Nagaland signed an MOU with a Hyderabad-based company for installation of 20
Mega Watts of Solar Energy in Ganeshnagar, Dimapur. Finally, the very company
dares not tread in Nagaland for fear of illegal taxation, threat, intimidation,
kidnap and murder and thus opted out, just for an instance. Not only this
company in question, why no private big business houses lost interest to
explore the business viabilities in Nagaland is to avoid being trapped in the
snares of Nagaland. Following the inability to attract the attention of the
investors, Nagaland Post carried the speech of the honourable Chief Minister of
Nagaland on May 30, 2025 in which he said that the “unresolved Naga political
issue was obstructing developments in the State.” What the honourable CM said
is the ground reality. This very terminal disease which adversely impacts
Nagaland is not the honourable CM Dr. N. Rio’s recent diagnosis. I believe he
knows it better than anyone else during the last two decades.
- Yet, despite having diagnosed the ailment, the
State Govt. is hell-bent not to prescribe the right medication for the
diagnosed disease for timely political healing. The reason for keeping the
existing political mess is not inconspicuous. The anti-solution people have
been basking under the political mess is their paradise, and who the hell will
like to discard such paradise by means of resolving the Naga political issue.
The dosage of truth is bitter to swallow and yet the State Govt. is indeed
behind the NSCN(IM) and remains the roadblock to political solution and
therefore responsible for the
retrogression of Nagaland.
- The
second vital policy of the State Govt. by which Nagaland is to be preserved and
reserved for the bona fide citizens or allow every Tom, Dick and Harry to
become the proprietor of Nagaland. In the same speech, the Chief Minister
talked about the importance of the Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of
Nagaland (RIIN). Initially, the Govt. was found very determined to enforce this
law by constituting a Commission headed by Mrs. Banuo Z. Jamir who promptly
completed her report. Subsequently, the Govt. started developing lackadaisical
attitude towards the report and kept it in cold storage for a long period of
time. Beside, when the Report was tabled in the Assembly, the Govt. tried to
extract the vital tooth of RIIN by relaxing the Cut-off year from 1963 to 1979
so as to not let it bite as it should. If RIIN is to have the cut-off year of
1979, in my opinion, it is as good as we do not have such namesake and
contemptuous law. It is contemptuous for the fact that it gives protection to
illegal intruders to have equal rights with the bona fide landowners over the
State of Nagaland.
- To rationally and effectively enforce the ILP, RIIN
is the basis which is indispensable. With RIIN in enforcement, the
administration can easily identify who is and who is not to use ILP. Without
RIIN, enforcement of ILP is hazardous. At the moment, there is hue and cry for
ILP enforcement in Dimapur area which has high concentration of people from
other States. Without RIIN, many citizens may be unnecessarily harassed in the
process. Exactly this is the situation in the ongoing enforcement of ILP in
Dimapur as reported in Nagaland Post dated 9.6.2025. I am apprehensive that ILP
enforcement without RIIN may only besmirch the process.
- In
both the issues of Naga political solution and RIIN, the State Govt. has
miserably failed to walk the talk. The question to the Govt. is, will this
Govt. ever walk the talk?
-
- Z. Lohe
