CSOs greet Amit Shah with banners for solution not polls

Volunteers of Nagaland People’s Action Committee (NPAC) and other civil society organisations (CSOs) held placards/banners outside Dimapur Airport to greet Union Home MinisterAmit Shah as he arrived Dimapur from Imphal by a special chartered plane Friday on his brief one-day visit.
Some of the placards read “Ink solution or call off”; “Amit Shahji, you have the power to deliver a solution”; “Settlement, now or never”; “Enough of talk and tall promises, Nagas want action”, “Give us solution, not election” etc.
NPAC dismayed by police action: NPAC convener Theja Therie informed this reporter that the police had confronted the volunteers and took away the placards while holding the rally peacefully. He expressed shock and disappointment over the police action.
Therieh explained that the sole purpose of NPAC volunteers in holding placards was to welcome the Union Home Minister and also express their disappointment against the long-pending solution despite 26 years of negotiations.
Nagaland GB Federation (NGBF) general secretary Shikuto Zalipu pointed out that Nagaland was a democratic set-up and questioned the police action against NPAC volunteers.
It was learned that the police received order from their higher authority to restrict movements, including holding of placards, near the airport as precautionary measure.
Zalipu questioned why were NPAC’s welcome banner removed by the police when BJP flags and bannerswere allowed along the entire stretch of Airport Road?
He asserted that Nagaland was not a BJP State, but a State under Union of Indian and that people of the state have every right to welcome every political figure visiting Nagaland.
It was later learnt that when confronted by NPAC volunteers, police returned the banners and allowed them to carry on with their peaceful activity without causing any further disruption.
Other CSO representatives disclosed that their main intention was to greet Shah and hold up banners to express their longing for ending the long-pending Naga political issue.
It may be recalled that the CSOs held a meeting at Hotel Saramati a day earlier on Thursday and expressed their dismay at the delay in securing solution even 26 years of negotiations. The CSOs noted that 26 years of political negotiation was enough to bring out a political solution if Centre was serious and had a political will for solution.
Meanwhile, NPAC in a statement expressed shock and disappointment at the manner in which the state machinery tried to sabotage the democratic expression of people of Nagaland voicing their sentiment during the visit of Amit Shah.
NPAC said the police action was not only a surprise but a shock, when the entire Naga society including the state government have been vociferous in demanding early political solution.
NPAC hit out saying that claiming to facilitate solution on one hand and suppressing the people’s exertion on early solution on the other was contradictory.
“This double talk and action is the reason why the concluded talk cannot deliver the required solution,” NPAC said and demanded to know the role of facilitators in regards to Naga political issue.