NPF lashes out at sectarian news portal for slur

Dimapur, April 4 (EMN): The Naga People’s Front (NPF) has lashed out against right wing naysayer and sectarian online publication Swarajyamag for making ‘outrageous’ and ‘unsubstantiated claims’ portraying the church, and bureaucrats and the NPF as having funded a banned underground group. The NPF issued a statement on Thursday. The party said that the article quoted unnamed officials of the National Investigation Agency as having found that the NPF leader TR Zeliang was “personally involved” in what the author said “collection of taxes on behalf of the NSCN.” The statement is ‘simply intolerable’ because the author attempted to ‘charge-sheet an innocent even before investigations are concluded,’ the opposition stated. Besides, the NPF stated, the author claimed alleged close links of Zeliang to the NSCN which it stated “was the reason behind the BJP breaking its alliance with the NPF and joining hands with the NDPP, which only goes to show the ignorance of the author about the political ground realities in Nagaland in the run up to the elections in February 27 last.” The opposition called ‘most loathsome and reprehensible’ the author and the news portal making a ‘clumsy attempt’ to ‘polarize the society and nation on cultural and religious lines by casting aspersions on the churches in Nagaland as involved in collecting taxes for proscribed outfits and pocketing hefty amounts for evangelization.’ “This is a ridiculous allegation and would have been most amusing if not for the gravity of the claim. This is as absurd as to claim that all tribals are insurgents; all Muslims are terrorists; all Hindus are right-wing fundamentalists,” the party reminded. The opposition was of the opinion that the author would do well by doing some research on the active role of the church in Nagaland to bring together the various groups to the negotiating table with the government of India. Besides, it should do so about the efforts of the church all these decades to bring peace and normalcy in these parts of the country, the party stated. The statement had a word for the portal: “And for the information of the author – he obviously requires a lot of information about Nagaland – the Naga People’s Front has the motto of Fide Non Armis (Latin for ‘by faith, not by arms’) and as enunciated by the motto, the party is wedded to the principles of non violence and has affirmed that it shall strive for resolution of all conflicts through peaceful means.’