Nagaland Liquor Total Prohibition Act is farce today, says Former Chief Minister KL Chishi

Our Reporter
Dimapur, Aug. 16 (EMN): Former Chief Minister of Nagaland, KL Chishi on Tuesday said that the Nagaland Liquor Total Prohibition (NLTP) Act 1989 was ‘never in the mind’ of the then government but “we were forced as legislators to enact the law, and so we did it because we wanted to do with will of the people but it is a farce today”.

He said this while addressing a press conference at Congress Bhavan in Dimapur, organised by the Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC).

The former CM said that the controversial Act was enacted during his time under the leadership of SC Jamir, and they were forced to introduce and enact it in the Nagaland Legislative Assembly. But even after so many years, the prohibition is a highly controversial issue and even the leaders are selling liquor, he added.

Maintaining that spurious drinks are available everywhere, he said the NLTP Act has become a fallacy and mockery on the part of the churches in Nagaland.

Speaking on the Naga political issue, he said the chief minister had announced when his government was installed in 2018 that its policy was to act as facilitator in the Indo-Naga political issue. He claimed that “instead of facilitating, the government of the state has pledged by taking a vow before and after election that they will abide by the constitution of India”.

He, therefore, asked ‘how they will facilitate when the talk is between the Naga national workers and the government of India; the MLAs are under the constitution of India while the negotiation has to take place outside the constitution of India’.

While the neighbouring states are developing, Chishi claimed that in Nagaland, “the only change that has been brought is a rampant corruption, nepotism, favouritism, unemployment, nonpayment of salaries to the government employees and slashing of funds like MGNRGA and VDB funds”.

Also speaking at the press conference, NPCC president K Therie claimed that Naga solution won’t come under the incumbent state government, adding that the UDA government made a resolution on July 16, 2022 endorsing Framework Agreement and Agreed Position but signed a seat-sharing deal for the upcoming state election instead of taking the resolution to Delhi.

He also accused the Central government of betraying the people for years, saying that the Nagas were expecting an announcement on the political issue during the 75th anniversary of Indian independence.

“Despite assuring us by the high position BJP leaders that 2018 election will be election for solution, now PM has forgotten the entire NE people on Independence Day (sic),” Therie stated, adding that the BJP government can’t be expected to deliver a political solution as ‘winning election is more important than resolving the political solution for them’.

He also claimed that “ceasefire agreement is the solution” for the Indian government.

“We want to let the people of Nagaland know that we are going to the election without political solution, and therefore, be prepared either to continue without solution for years or remove this government and be prepared for a solution,” he said.

The NPCC wanted solution and settlement first; its first priority was never election but “if the state government wants election, we will be bound to fight as a national political party”, he added.