Political settlement still elusive: CM

Principal Correspondent Kohima, March 21 The unresolved Naga political issue dominated the proceedings of the second day of the 4th session of the 12th Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA) with the ruling and opposition bench members emphasizing on the need to put the solution on top priority for the welfare of the Naga people. Despite the best efforts from all sections of the Naga people and members of the 60-member state Assembly a political settlement remains elusive,Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio said. Making a statement while presenting the Vote-on-Account for the first quarter of the fiscal 2014-15 in the Assembly today, Rio said “the protracted Naga political issues continues to elude a solution, despite our best efforts”. “We were always prepared to pave way for an alternative arrangement, and we even tried hard to push forward the issue just before the Assembly elections during the concluding months of DAN-II government,” he said. Rio mentioned that serious efforts were made to persuade the Union Government for taking concrete steps to solve the Naga Political while also adding that the Joint Legislators Forum (JLF) headed by the Speaker of the state Assembly with all the 60 MLAs belonging to various political parties and the Forum for Naga Reconciliation made special efforts in that direction. Stating that though these special efforts did not bear desired fruit, and though the Naga people were disappointed with the lukewarm response of the Government of India, Nagas are still not disheartened, he said “we have the hope that after the ensuing Parliamentary elections, the Naga political issue will gain due priority for being resolved”. “Nagas are waiting for this historic moment to arrive,” he said. Rio lamented that despite 17 long years of ceasefire and peace talks between the GoI and Naga underground groups no much headway has been made, factional clashes continue, causing huge constraints on the daily life of the common man. The delay in solving the Naga political problem has its own lateral dimensions, the CM said. Meanwhile, Rio reiterated that DAN was the embodiment and expression of people’s collective will and coined it as people’s Government reflecting the aspirations of the Hohos, the Civil Societies and others. “DAN is indeed the cooperative and consultative model of inclusive governance, however, within the four walls of the Constitutional framework,” he maintained. During the question hour, Home Minister G. Kaito Ayeh replying to CLP leader Tokheho Yepthomi told the House the Indo-Naga political negotiation is between the Government of India (GoI) and underground groups with interlocutors and that the state government is not a party to it.