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DIMAPUR — The Eastern Nagaland People’s Organisation (ENPO) has requested the Eastern Nagaland Legislator’s Union (ENLU) to prioritise attending the scheduled meeting on March 19, stating that there is no point in meeting central leaders as the Election Model Code of Conduct has come into effect.
Earlier on March 16, the ENLU, which is made up of 20 legislators from the eastern region, requested that the scheduled meeting be postponed, citing the fact that they are currently camping in Delhi to meet with central leaders on the issue of the Frontier Nagaland Territory (FNT).
Subsequently, the ENPO convened an emergency meeting in Tuensang on March 16 night, where it was decided that there would be no changes in the date for the meeting.
Explaining its stance in a letter addressed to the ENLU secretary general, ENPO president R Tsapikyu Sangtam stated that the Eastern Nagaland Students’ Federation had originally convened the meeting at Tuensang on March 14. However, considering the convenience of ENLU members as all 20 members were travelling to New Delhi, it was postponed to March 19.
“Further, it is presumed that there will be no point meeting central leaders since the Election Model Code of Conduct to the Lok Sabha 2024 has already been declared by the ECI,” Sangtam said, requesting the ENLU to, “take out time to be present in the proposed meeting positively.”
Notably, on Feb.15, 2024, the ENPO had stated that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had assured on Dec.7, 2023, that the FNT issue would be settled before the election Model Code of Conduct is enforced.
“We were assured that the final draft will be handed over in a week, in a month but till date we have not received the final draft. Because of this, we are also worried as when the election Model Code of Conduct is enforced we will not be able to do anything, so we are pressurising the government of India (GoI) to hand over the draft soon,” the ENPO team had said on Feb.15.
The team also said, at the time, that they were working on a strategy in case the MCC is enforced before they receive the draft.
The ENPO also maintained that the creation of FNT was suggested by the GoI and not the ENPO, and it is being pursued after being seconded by the people.
However, with no response from the GoI, the ENPO declared ‘public emergency’ in the eastern region which includes the districts of Kiphire, Longleng, Mon, Noklak, Shamator, and Tuensang, followed by total shutdown in all the six districts.
Further, on March 15, the ENPO announced that all ongoing state and central government sponsored constructions (building, roads, and supplies) being taken up in six eastern districts would be halted till further notice, as part of the ongoing bandh against the GoI’s delay in settling the creation of FNT through the Ministry of Home Affairs.