Dimapur, July 16 : The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) has demanded that the Indian government come clean and publish the ‘accord.’ The Congress issued separate statements on Saturday, one of which rebuked the center’s interlocutor RN Ravi asking him to “restrain from insulting the intelligence of the Nagas.”
“GoI’s Interlocutor for Naga talks R.N. Ravi should restrain from insulting the intelligence of the Nagas. He should be honest and come to the point by publishing the accord,” the NPCC statement, appended by K Therie, stated.
“There is no need to painstakingly explain bit by bit. Nagas can read and write. We have 82% literacy and the political problem is in the blood of each and every ones’ spirit. Even Illiterate elders know better the Nagas’ want. Intelligent Nagas understand the Constitution of India and its provisions as well.”
The NPCC remarked that “we understand he does not have the authority to finalize any point. GoI should not deliberately delay anymore.”
State assembly’s session a ‘funeral service’
In the second statement, the NPCC hit out at the recently-concluded Nagaland Legislative Assembly session which lasted a ‘record’ of 15 minutes on the opening day. The Congress ridiculed the “no opposition government” and accused it of having no concern ‘but rather focused on how to siphon off some more funds’ to buy voters in the next elections.
The NPCC expressed regret that the administrations and the police had painstakingly secured security and traffic regulations for which even public movement was restricted to pave way for the MLAs and ministers.
However, the NPCC said, ‘when they assembled and finished the assembly in 15 minutes there was no noise or sound. After a hectic 15-minute session, they took rest the next day…’
Stating that the assembly did not even have a question hour, the NPCC accused the legislators of having no concern even for their own respective assembly issues. Because of the presence of strong opposition in the past, the Congress claimed, ‘corruption was checked and no minister or bureaucrat was spared if found corrupt.’
The Congress likened the session to a funeral service ‘where no one raised any question.’ All the speakers in the assembly speak of ‘achievements while their minds and attention are focused on how to siphon off some more funds to bribe the voters in the next elections,’ the Congress added.
NPF responds
The NPF also issued a rejoinder to the NPCC, on Saturday, asserting that the Congress party in Nagaland was “jittery” after the formation of the North East Democratic Alliance. “The NPCC has ridiculed the assembly session of being only of 15 minutes duration and that the legislators took rest the next day.”
“Yes, the duration of the first day was only 15 minutes because the business of the day required only 15 minutes to be tabled,” the NPF stated in defense. “After the session, most of the senior legislators including the chief minister rushed off to Guwahati to attend the launching ceremony of the NEDA by the national BJP President Amit Shah the next day where it was unanimously declared that the Congress party is a conglomeration of forces inimical to the progress and prosperity of the nation.”
Right after the meeting, the NPF explained, the “participants from Nagaland” returned, reaching the capital (Kohima town) around midnight “so as to attend the next day’s assembly session.”
The regional party remarked: “Far from taking rest on the intervening day of the two-day assembly session as alleged by the Congress party, the fact of the matter was that the legislators and party functionaries were literally burning the midnight oil to ensure that the Congress party becomes a memory after the next elections in the state and the region.”
