RPP asks govt to stop ‘bullying tactics’

Rising People’s Party (RPP) has described the State government’s office memorandum of November 28, 2022 as a complete insult to the sentiments of Eastern Nagaland people and asked the government to stop the “bullying tacics.”
In a statement, RPP questioned why the NDPP-BJP coalition was hell-bent on Eastern Nagaland’s participation in Hornbill Festival through backdoor means and why the State government had issued a notification forcing village guards (VGs) from Eastern Nagaland to participate in the festival donning traditional attires.
RPP said that if ENPO was not willing to participate in Hornbill Festival, it was the latter’s prerogative, which should be respected.
“Are the VGs the only bona fide government servants and easy victims that they should be bullied into participation, which is sure to inflame the sentiments of eastern people?” RPP wondered.
RPP pointed out that there were VGs in Phek district as well, but as per the government’s notification, only the VGs from Eastern Nagaland had been summoned for participation, in which the party said it smelt a rat.
According to RPP, there was a genuine grievance for which ENPO was unwilling to participate in Hornbill Festival. But the manner in which the Neiphiu Rio-led government was carrying out its bullying tactics meant that the NDPP-BJP government was hell-bent on creating disunity among the eastern brothers through manipulative means, the party emphasised.
The party warned that such tactics to undermine Eastern Nagas who had been at the receiving end for decades would only lead to more disunity for which the Rio-led government could not escape responsibility.
As far as the demand for Frontier Nagaland was concerned, RPP acknowledged that Eastern Nagas had their genuine grievances, which it fully supported.
During its 34-day walkathon around Nagaland, RPP said it observed that Eastern Nagaland was indeed poorly developed and as such the grievances of Eastern Naga people could not be brushed under the carpet.