GUWAHATI: A BJP leader has lost his case in the Supreme Court but his party in Nagaland is celebrating his defeat.
The court on Tuesday dismissed Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay’s PIL seeking direction to Nagaland government and Centre to take steps to ensure that non-Nagas living in the state’s commercial hub Dimapur do not suffer due to the government’s move to impose ILP there and examine if ILP’s total withdrawal is feasible.
The BJP’s Nagaland unit said, “The party unit joins the rest of the Nagas in rejoicing the dismissal of the PIL...” The party expressed its heartfelt gratitude to various Naga organizations which expressed their anguish in the wake of Upadhyay’s filing the PIL.
The BJP’s Nagaland unit said its president Temjen Imna Along had requested Upadhyay to withdraw the PIL while the state’s Deputy Chief Minister Y Patton, who is from the party, had closely followed the case to ensure the PIL’s dismissal by the SC.
After the petition was filed last week, several Naga organisations had erupted in protests.
Alleging that Upadhyay painted the Nagas as being “racist”, Nagaland’s apex tribal organisation, Naga Hoho, had said, “This clearly shows that he has some malafide intention to malign the Nagas…Unlike other states in India, Nagaland was created out of a political agreement and Dimapur comes within the purview of 1963 statehood”.
The Naga Students’ Federation had alleged that a vested interest group misled Upadhyay with the intention to smear the good image of the Nagas and fan anti-Naga passion outside Nagaland.
It had also said that the petitioner-accused the Nagas of indulging in racial discrimination.
“…In terms of receiving good treatment, the Naga society in comparison to other societies treats everyone with respect…,” the NSF had said.