Kohima: The Nagaland Gaon Burah (Village Headmen) Federation (NGBF) has demanded for postponement of the state assembly election and suggested the imposition of President’s Rule in the state to find an acceptable and honourable solution to the Naga political issue.
According to a press release issued by the Media Cell of the NGBF, “NGBF is convinced that although elections are a necessity in a democratic world, they are not advisable at this hour in Nagaland.”
“Let elections be postponed in favour of the President’s Rule to ensure an honourable and acceptable solution is achieved,” it said, adding that the NGBF would be duty bound to side with “our people” if the people decide to refrain from participating in elections.
The NGBF also appealed the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to take a call on the Naga issue, claiming that it had felt the pulse of the people at the grassroots ever since the announcement of conclusion of talks with all entities by Centre’s former Interlocutor R N Ravi on October 31, 2019.
It further declared that it was duty bound to extend solidarity to the people should they go ahead and refrain from participating in the democratic process, if the political leadership at the Center focused solely on elections and not on an Indo-Naga political solution.
It warned of being compelled to make a decision about whether to participate in or boycott the forthcoming election.
On the Eastern Nagaland People’s Organisation (ENPO) demand for a Frontier Nagaland state, the NGBF maintained that the delay by the Government of India in announcing the Naga settlement is related to political and administrative inconsistencies in the region over the years.
“Resolving the Naga political issue and post solution realignments of flawed political and administrative status will fulfil the aspiration of the Eastern Nagaland Tribes,” it said.
“NGBF understands that openly expressing a decision to boycott and abstain from democratic exercise in any part of India or in Nagaland, either by ENPO or the Central Nagaland Tribes Council (CNTC), will seriously dent the image of the largest democratic nation in the world and its political leadership.”Â
The release said that since the matter is about a decades-long political struggle, the people have the legitimate political and historical right to express themselves, knowing that negotiations have already concluded.
