Naga political issue: Imkong Imchen suggests Presidential Rule

Our Correspondent
Kohima, March 22 (EMN): Senior Naga People’s Front legislator Imkong L Imchen on Tuesday opined that invoking Article 356 of the Constitution of India that pertains to President’s rule may be the right answer to the ‘cries of the Naga people’.

He stated this while initiating the discussion on “Naga political issue” on day-three of the ongoing 11th session of the 13th NLA under rule 50 of the conduct of business.

He said even after forming an all-party government, the house had constituted the core committee on Naga political issue composed of Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Naga People’s Front (NPF) and Independent, with chief minister as the convenor and Dy. CM Y Patton and leader of NPF Legislature TR Zeliang as co-convenors.

‘However, the committee could not discuss the core issues by providing quality time to the members’, he added.

In the process, he said time is taking its toll on Naga people’s enthusiasm for a negotiated settlement.

Imchen pointed out that it is now 25 years since political talks started and yet there is no sign of progress from the negotiations.

The legislator said during the 2018 General election, there was a concerted effort to put on-hold the impending election to the Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA) under the slogan “Solution not election”. He said that another slogan came from a certain national party — “Election for solution”– and subsequently the election was held ‘as per their wish’.

He highlighted that five years had gone since then, ‘and yet nothing is coming to sight either from the government of India or from the Naga negotiating groups’.

Imchen said, “If the continuance of election system in the state is making any negative hindrance in the on-going political negotiation, the GoI may even invoke Article 356 of the Constitution of India after the completion of the present tenure in 2023 so as to eliminate any negative hindrance coming from the elected representatives”.

He viewed that the house can be kept under animated suspension or even dissolved and imposed Presidents’ rule to conduct speedy negotiation and to bring about a negotiated settlement at the earliest.

‘Under the given situation, I’m proposing to the Government of India to invoke Article 356 of the Constitution of India out of my sheer frustration on the conduct of the political negotiation during the last 25 years,’ said the senior legislator.

He also stated “Let there not be any elected representatives in the scene of the Naga political talks but only the negotiating parties and the GoI. The Naga people can no longer bear the burden of massive extortion inflicted on the people without any reasonable limit besides intimidation and threats”.

 Meanwhile, he also asserted that too much innocent blood had been shed with untold stories of atrocities committed by both the security forces and Naga freedom fighters.

Further, he reiterated that he is not against democracy but against the prevailing Naga society ‘which is full of violence, intimidation, extortion, threats’ and viewed that invoking Article 356 of the Constitution of India may be the right answer.