Naga issue, oppn-less govt, illegal immigrants at centre of Assembly session

Kohima: Despite no visible opposition party in the 14th Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA), legislators from various political parties on Thursday deliberated on issues like the Naga political issue, the formation of an opposition-less government, and illegal immigrants.

Naga Political Issue:

The Naga Political Issue (NPI) is one topic that dominates the discussions in almost every session of the state Assembly. The first session of the newly formed 14th NLA was no exception.

Naga People’s Front (NPF) MLA Kuzholuzo Nienu who initiated a discussion on the motion of thanks to the Governor’s address on Thursday shared the embarrassment of repeatedly bringing up this issue on the floor of the house every tenure. 

The 5-time MLA said that as the issue is usually raised at the fag end of the tenure, the new government must form a Joint legislators forum with all political parties as members to facilitate the Naga issue.

Recounting Prime minister Narendra Modi and Union Home minister Amit Shah’s visit to the state and the commitment made by Shah on the Naga issue, Nienu pondered whether assurances made to resolve the issue were just to fool the public or were made in all seriousness. 

If there is a political will, he said that all 60 legislators can unite in resolving the long pending issue. 

On claims made by Nienu that the NPF party champions the Naga political issue, chief minister Neiphiu responded by saying that such a statement is unreasonable, unacceptable and disrespectful to all Nagas across generations.

“The Naga political issue and the Naga political movement is not the private property or domain of any party, organisation or individual. In fact, every Naga citizen is a direct stakeholder in the Naga aspiration for genuine peace and honourable solution,” he said. 

Rio said that the contributions and sacrifices of past leaders and political parties must be acknowledged and not denied. “Let us not make political rhetoric and play to galleries, but rather let us be practical, realistic and honest and work collectively,” Rio added. 

First-time MLA Achumbemo Kikon shared the opinion that integration of the Naga areas was the birthright of Nagas.

Meanwhile Lon Jan Shakti (Ram Vilas) MLA Dr Sukhato also said that the party which made its debut in the state extends its full support to Rio’s government in resolving the Naga political issue by bringing about a logical conclusion.

He informed the house that the party’s national president Chirag Paswan assured to take up the matter with PM Modi and also raise the issue in the parliament at the appropriate time. 

Opposition-less Government:

Nienu, who initiated the first discussion in the ongoing state Assembly, began by expressing his confusion as to whether 23 non-People’s Democratic Alliance (PDA) legislators are on the opposition bench or the ruling bench.

The legislator while acknowledging CM Rio for welcoming the support letter of the non-NDPP-BJP legislators, said that Rio should be bold to spill if these legislators are accepted or not. 

Till the time an opposition-less government is officially formed, Nienu said that the NPF party will play a proactive role as an opposition party.  In response to Nienu’s query, Rio said ” I heartily accept the support and I am sure that the coming together with all political parties in support will help the State in reaching even higher levels of development, progress and for early solution of Naga political issue which is what we aspire and look forward to”.

Rio also reiterated that all letters of support submitted by legislators from various political parties and independent candidates have been forwarded to the Governor and also to the Assembly secretariat for the necessary records. The matter of forming an opposition-less government, he said, is also discussed between the ruling alliance partners.

Illegal immigrants:

Nienu is also alarmed about the increasing number of Illegal Bangladeshi Immigrants (IBIs) in the state with the districts of  Chümoukedima, Dimapur and Niuland becoming a breeding ground for such immigrants. Urging the need to address the issue, he said that if it is not handled carefully, Nagaland will soon become the next Tripura.

In this regard, CM Rio said that due attention to this problem has always been taken. The ILP regime, he said, was extended to Dimapur which had always remained outside the purview of ILP. Besides the introduction of online ILP registration, Rio said that various other administrative measures were also taken. 

“In order to completely curb the possibility of issues of fake Indigenous Inhabitant Certificate and protect the rights of the Indigenous people of our State, we are in the process of taking several administrative and structural measures for strengthening the procedure for identification, scrutiny and issue of the Indigenous certificate,” he said.

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