Abrogation of Article 370 a ‘threat’ to Article 371 (A) too — Therie

DIMAPUR — Former Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) president K Therie has asserted that the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, which was upheld by the Supreme Court of India, is also a ‘threat’ to Article 371 (A).

The former state Congress president, in a press release, pointed out that the Nagaland State government has been struggling with the Government of India (GoI) in respect of oil and mineral resources since 1992.

“Our claim is based on Art. 371(A) while GoI claims oil and mineral resources fall under the Union List. The dispute continues for over 20 years while the people of Nagaland are deprived of revenue from oil and natural gas exploration,” Therie said.

Stating that he had “seen some light” in the agreement between the Naga National Political Groups and GoI regarding oil and natural resources, Therie said he was hoping that if the agreement was implemented, then the state would have full autonomy over oil and mineral resources.

However, in the present situation, he said that the BJP government at the Centre is not under pressure to implement the political solutions.

Therie went on to allege that the then interlocutor and former Nagaland Governor RN Ravi, was removed by the “State and NSCN (IM)” for speeding up the implementation of the agreed political solutions.

“Thereafter, GoI did not even appoint an interlocutor because there was no more work. In the 2023 election, the people of Nagaland gave a mandate that endorsed Ravi’s removal. GoI is no longer under any threat or pressure from either Naga national workers or from the NDPP and BJP Alliance Govt. As such, the hope of implementation of the agreed solutions is like chasing the wind,” he said.

In the given situation, Therie was of the view that the way forward is for the Government of Nagaland and Naga national workers to work collectively to achieve the goal.

“In my view, the shortest route to achieve this may be implementation of the agreed political solutions,” he added.

Further, while welcoming the Supreme Court’s directive for the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s Statehood, Therie claimed that the action of the GoI in abrogating Art. 370 “is part implementation of the Uniform Civil Code.”