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DIMAPUR — The Eastern Nagaland Peoples' Organisation (ENPO) has said that it had not demanded the creation of Frontier Nagaland Territory (FNT) but was offered by the government of India through the Ministry of Home Affairs and that “the arrangement will be within the state of Nagaland, and not beyond”.
This was relayed to the 10-member delegation of Sumi Youth Organisation (SYO) led by its president Hikavi H Kinimi, vice president Hukaito Zhimomi and general secretary Bokalu V Jimo, who paid a solidarity visit and had a meeting with the leaders of ENPO, Eastern Nagaland Women Organisation (ENWO) and Eastern Nagaland Students' Federation (ENSF) at the CKS Hall in Tuensang headquarters on Saturday.
‘The ENPO had informed them (SYO delegation) about the clarity of both the government of India and ENPO that granting of FNT will have no impact upon Naga political issue and won’t infringe upon article 371A of the constitution of India,’ read the press release.
Regarding the statement made by Nagaland Deputy CM and Home Minister Y Patton that the ENPO never consulted the state government initially on the matter, it clarified that “after the submission of memorandum on 25th November, 2010, the ENPO came back and had submitted a copy of the memorandum to the state government”.
This resulted in the state government constituting a Cabinet Sub-Committee on ENPO demand and subsequently recommended creation of Autonomous Council, which was rejected by the people of eastern Nagaland, it added.
The apex body of the eastern region went on to clarify that it officially had four rounds of bilateral talks with the GoI and two rounds of tripartite talks (GoI, GoN and ENPO) before it was concluded in 2018.
So, it said that there is no question of the state government not being consulted or unaware of the talks unless the government undermines the protocol services of its bureaucrats who participated in the trilateral meetings.
During the ‘solidarity meet’, SYO president made it clear that their visit was to extend support, acknowledging “the unity, resilience and statesmanship exhibited by the people of eastern Nagaland” and not to talk about the decision of the ENPO to abstain from the upcoming election.
While reiterating the SYO's unwavering commitment to stand by the people of eastern Nagaland during their hard times, he urged to display the same unity for the Naga cause.
The leaders of ENPO, ENWO and ENSF thanked the SYO team for their gesture during the time of struggle and pain, as well as apprised why the people of eastern Nagaland decided not to participate in the election, it was informed.
Tuensang village pledges support
The update also informed that the ENPO, ENWO and ENSF team visited Tuensang village on Friday and apprised the people about the decision to refrain from participating in any central and state elections following ‘the failure to settle FNT prior to the announcement of model code of conduct (MCC) to the Lok Sabha election 2024’.
During the meeting, which was attended by village elders from Lomou, Kangshou, Pilashi and Chongpho khels, the people of Tuensang village pledged their full cooperation to ENPO’s stance, said the press release.
It added that N. Kaimang Chang, president of Citizen Union and former president of Chang Khulei Setshang (CKS), a signatory of the ENPO statehood demand memorandum, proposed ex-communication of “individuals from Eastern Nagaland who do not adhere to the public movement”.