EMN
DIMAPUR, January 26
Noke led NPF Legislature Party leader G Kaito Aye and its spokesperson Imkong Imchen asserted today that they will continue to fight till democracy triumphs, till truth prevails and till majority is victorious. Accusing rival group president Dr Shurhozelie of indulging in continuous attempt to create confusion and spread false propaganda, Kaito and Imkong in a joint statement said it needs the serious attention of Naga society.
“Our society must understand the facts of the matter and judge who is right and who is misleading who. In ancient and early times, might proved to be right but with civilization and prevalence democracy, it is now universally accepted that majority is right,” they said in the statement.
The statement then said the people should know that the present political move by the NPF Legislators is not a move to change the government but only to change the leader of the NPF Legislature Party. There is no move to change the government and we expect that the matter is to be resolved within the 38 elected Members of the NPF, it added.
Recalling the past event, the statement said that in 2014, Kaito met the former NPF President Dr. Shurhozelie on several occasions and sought the blessings of the then president if the majority would support his leadership like it had happened in the case of T.R. Zeliang becoming chief minister. Dr. Shurhozelie had assured Kaito and other leaders that he would not interfere in the internal affairs of the legislators and that he would respect the view of the majority.
“Therefore 22 NPF MLAs met and unanimously elected G. Kaito Aye as the Leader of the NPF Legislature Party on January 4. In order to convey this message the Rajya Sabha MP, Khekiho Zhimomi was deputed to convey the message to Dr. Shurhozelie and he sought appointment on January 5 but Dr. Shurhozelie refused to meet the MP and only met him on January 6 and when Khekiho carried the message that the president meet the majority of MLAs led by Kaito Aye, Dr. Shurhozelie flatly refused to even meet them,” the statement alleged.
A second delegation consisting of former MPs Imchalemba, Chingwang Konyak and Rajya Sabha MP Khekiho met Dr. Shurhozelie on January 7 and requested the NPF president to respect the majority and even suggested to him to meet the Lok Sabha MP, Neiphiu Rio and resolve the matter through reconciliation, but he refused to call any meeting for resolution of the problem, it further alleged.
Again on January 15, the same leaders once again met Dr. Shurhozelie to work for reconciliation but their efforts and suggestions were flatly refused by the former president, the statement also said.
“Instead he had illegally suspended 7 MLAs on January 5 followed by another 2 MLAs on January 10. These MLAs were expelled and suspended and removed from the primary membership of the NPF, bypassing all constitutional norms and without routing through the Disciplinary Action Committee,” Kaito and Imkong added.
It needs to be pointed out that his re-election as NPF President was also unconstitutional as he appointed a search committee which re-elected him as president for five years. Likewise he appointed a core group to select a chief minister during the change of guard which was without the consent of neither of the elected members nor with the knowledge or approval of the then chief minister. The NPF constitution has no special power for the president to appoint any core group or search committee, Kaito and Imchen further said.
“Such autocratic and dictatorial style of functioning had resulted in the Special General Meeting of the NPF held on January 12 passing a unanimous resolution to remove Dr. Shurhozelie as president and simultaneously elected Noke Wangnao as President. This meeting was attend by 22 elected MLAs, 2 MPs and the majority of the office bearers of the party from the assembly constituencies, the divisions and the central office bearers. The house also adopted the resolution to set aside and nullify all the illegal actions of the former president and revoked the suspension orders of the ex-president. All these papers and documents have been submitted to the Election Commission of India in New Delhi and the Chief Electoral Officer in Nagaland so as to approve the real NPF party under Noke Wangnao and allot the reserved cock symbol to the genuine NPF under the leadership of Noke Wangnao,” the statement added.
It then said that the ‘lies and false’ propaganda of Dr. Shurhozelie can no longer be tolerated by the party organization or the general public and his attempts to mislead the public and his few followers with unconvincing arguments on his position and stand cannot be accepted by anyone who is in the right frame of mind.
“His attempt to suppress the majority and forcefully allow the minority to rule over the majority and run the government through manipulation cannot be allowed in the greater interest of Naga society. It is a betrayal of democracy and suppression of the Naga people’s mandate and there is no place for such autocracy in the world’s largest democratic country. No democratic institution will allow such illegality to prevail,” it stated.
“Today the crisis we are going through is a crisis of democracy. It is a question of protecting the traditions of democracy so that Naga society is not allowed to be ruled and suppressed by the minority. Today, it is a question of standing up for democracy and upholding the voice of the majority. Today it is a question of the survival, progress and forward march of Naga society. Will our society progress and move ahead if we suppress and not respect the majority. It’s time for Nagas to wake up and speak the truth,” it urged.
