Modi cheated people on Naga issue: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge
DIMAPUR: The Congress on Tuesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had cheated the people of Nagaland and the country by declaring on August 3, 2015 that the Naga political issue had been resolved with the signing of "Naga Accord", later renamed as "Framework Agreement".
Addressing a rally in Nagaland's commercial hub Dimapur, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said nearly eight years elapsed since but the PM's claim turned out to be an "empty boast".
"Further, in August 2019, PM Modi had given a three-month deadline for peaceful solution to the Naga political issue…Not only did the said deadline fail, but on December 30, 2021, as a result of the Oting killings, the Modi government continued to declare Nagaland as a disturbed area and extended Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act for six months," Kharge said.
He said while the Nagas are waiting with bated breath to see the settlement of the issue, the state's coalition government, of which BJP is a component, is indulging in delaying tactics on the pretext that more talks are needed.
"...they do not want any settlement. The BJP is not at all serious about resolving the issue, so much so this topical issue does not even figure in their 41-page manifesto," Kharge said.
He said it was the Congress that initiated the process to find a solution to the problem. Even now, this is one of the topmost commitments of the Congress, he added.
"While Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio has always acted with a mala fide intention by conveniently constituting and chairing a Consultative Committee for Peace that kept the Union government run by the Congress during 2004-2014 and then, disbanding it at his own convenience, he must tell the people of Nagaland his real intention all along," the Congress president demanded.
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He said Congress-led governments are the only ones to have first agreed to talk to the extremists at the PM's level, first with the Federal Government of Nagaland in the 1960s and later, with the NSCN.
"...the Congress government, headed by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru ji, provided for special provisions to Nagaland by incorporating Article 371A in the Constitution... BJP is hell-bent upon creating a divide within Nagaland and abrogating the provisions of Article 371A which will pave the way for easy implementation of the Uniform Civil Code, a mainstay of the BJP's divisive agenda," Kharge said.
He said the Congress would fight it tooth and nail.
"The BJP's politics is aimed at destroying the indigenous and unique culture of Nagas. The people of Nagaland must stand up against this attack on the culture of Nagaland and the politics of polarization and hatred," Kharge said.
He slammed the Modi government also on the Gautam Adani issue, stating there have been allegations of largescale economic mismanagement and stock manipulation in a big industrial company but the Centre failed to take any action.
Meanwhile, in Meghalaya, Congress leader Sachin Pilot alleged the double-engine government failed to deliver. "Price rise and unemployment continue to be major issues. What stopped BJP and MDA government from addressing these issues?" he asked.