ENPO defers July 10 rally, CEC to decide next course on Aug 6

DIMAPUR, JUL 7 (NPN): Eastern Nagaland Peoples’ Organisation (ENPO) has decided to defer its proposed public rally scheduled for July 10 following the State government’s decision to convene a special session of the Nagaland Legislative Assembly on the Frontier Nagaland Territorial Authority (FNTA) issue.
In a statement, ENPO said it had taken note of the state government’s July 6 press statement under the caption “Govt. to convene special NLA session for FNTA” and welcomed the government’s decision to give attention to the pending FNTA issue.
It said the decision to defer the rally was taken following the state government’s request to reconsider the planned rally, as well as similar requests from the Rajya Sabha member of Parliament and the Eastern Nagaland Legislators’ Union (ENLU) convenor. ENPO informed that it would convene its Central Executive Council (CEC) meeting on August 6, to take a necessary decision.
Reiterating that the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) was “sacred and sacrosanct”, ENPO said the tripartite agreement signed between ENPO, Ministry of Home Affairs and Nagaland government represented a solemn commitment and trust among the signatories. It maintained that the provisions of the MoA must be respected and implemented without deviation, adding that all parties to the agreement had a moral and ethical obligation to ensure there was no breach of trust.
ENPO also stated that Clause 3.3 of the MoA mandates consultation between the state government and the MHA on enactment of the “special legislation” for FNTA. It said the consultation was limited to enactment of the special legislation and could not be used to modify or omit the core principles of the MoA.
It further maintained that upholding the spirit of Article 371A of the Constitution and the provisions of the MoA was clearly mentioned, adding that the MoA had created a distinct legislative domain for FNTA and did not provide for delegation of legislative powers.
ENPO said implementation of the MoA in letter and spirit would be in alignment with the Prime Minister’s vision of “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas” by bringing the people of Eastern Nagaland into the mainstream of Viksit Bharat by 2047 with dignity, peace and development.