Working Committee of Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs) has cautioned the government of Nagaland that it “must not use ENPO issue as a pretext to divert attention from the impending Indo-Naga solution” and that there should be no strings attached between the “Indo-Naga political issue and ENPO demands”.
WC, NNPGs in a statement also accused whom it described as “ a group of people, mostly retired politicians and bureaucrats from Eastern Nagaland People’s Organisation(ENPO)” of having “secretly drafted a proposal, collaborating with Indian agents and submitted (it) to the government of India which it warned was “antithetical to the Indo-Naga political aspiration.”
According to WC,NNPGs the proposal, among many, include two points, which it said invite “serious repercussion”.
WC, NNPGs disclosed that the two points included: 1. that, “the present National workers from ENPO areas are all misguided and anti-social elements and when ENPO issue is resolved with GoI, all of them will be made to surrender along with arms. The leaders will be provided with one licensed arms each” and 2. “After ENPO/GoI agreement, all ENPO areas along Myanmar border will be fenced and sealed in order to prevent insurgents, drugs, arms smugglers from indulging in cross-border illegal activities.”
WC said that it was aware that half of Nagas living in ancestral land within Myanmar have negotiated terms for free entry and exit of Nagas from both India and Myanmar which is a “huge extension from the current Free Trade Regime(FTR) “ negotiated and agreed upon”. WC therefore asked, if border fencing was done, can Konyaks, Khiamniungans, Yimkhiungs etc be walled from their blood brothers and sisters living “across arbitrarily demarcated boundary in Myanmar?”
WC slammed the two points by calling the author(s) as “fickle minded” chasing name, fame and wealth at the cost of innocent ENPO public and who have “no second thoughts about committing heinous political crime against the very people they claim to stand for .”
WC also said it “is undesirable” if territorial integration of Naga inhabited area under on political entity(ENPO area) causes further disintegration of Nagaland.
According to WC, creation of one political entity is a “ploy to further dismember Naga families” and therefore urged upon ENPO leaders to “desist from any political arrangement that seeks to swallow the Naga political aspiration.”
In this regard, WC said ENPO people in particular and Nagas in general, “must have clarity on this issue before it is too late.”
WC asked : “who are the ENPO leaders playing with fire? Why are they willing to burn their fingers and invite curse upon their offsprings?” According to WC, it appears there “is tacit understanding among former politicians from ENPO areas, collaborating with Indian agents, to devalue the negotiated “Agreed Position” between GoI and WC,NNPGs”
Reiterating that the stand of WC has always been “pragmatic and consistent”, WC said it welcomes all initiatives of the government of India and ENPO that accorded priority on infrastructure, health sector, education and human resources development sectors” which must be developed on war footing.
It said eastern Nagaland had been much neglected over the decades by state governments and also by ENPO elected representatives themselves. It said the state government cannot wash its hands off the aggrieved ENPO. WC said alleged that Nagaland state has been “ divided into three tiers in the development graph, brazenly more so in the last two decades, where “ allocation and distribution of development activities in ENPO area is pathetic and grievous.”
WC said all chief ministers during the last quarter of a century, have failed to understand that development and economic progress of EMNPO people will fuel economic growth and strengthen social fabric of all Nagas.”
However, WC made it clear “to ENPO leaders at all levels that Indo-Naga issue is a political and historical issue, inclusive of Nagas in Nagaland, Naga people and land in Manipur, Naga people and land in Assam, Naga people and land in Arunchal Pradesh and Naga people and land in Myanmar.”
According to WC, the “GoI-ENPO talk is primarily to relook, fix and compensate the economic deprivation of six Naga tribes of ENPO by Nagaland state government in the last many decades” while the resolution of the “Indo-Naga political talk” can adequately address the grievances of eastern Naga area and therefore, priority must be accorded to inking the Indo-Naga political agreement.”
WC said it has concluded negotiations with the government of India and therefore, ENPO should not address the Naga historical and political matters because “ highly regarded and acknowledged leaders from among ENPO tribes have been integral part of Naga negotiating team.”
