ACAUT stated the formation of the opposition-less United Democratic Alliance (UDA) government by all the collective elected members of the 13th Nagaland Legislative Assembly was the logical step taken to bring solution before next election as mandated.
By Imna Longchar, TFM Nagaland Correspondent
Against Corruption And Unabated Taxation (ACAUT), Nagaland has reminded the people of Nagaland that expediting the Naga political settlement was one of the key resolution of the ACAUT public rally held on October 31, 2013, which was reaffirmed on August 26, 2017 public rally.
ACAUT in press statement issued jointly by its Convener, Tia Longchar, Co-convener, Simon Kelio, and Secretary, Hetoi Chishi, stated that ACAUT wholeheartedly was part and parcel of the Core Committee of Nagaland Tribal Hohos and Civil Organisations (CCNTHCO) that stood for “Solution before Election” in 2018, which has its precedent set in the 1998 election.
However, the BJP incharge of Northeast India Ram Madhav declared “Election for Solution” and went ahead with the polls.
In the unfolding political arena of Nagaland, ACAUT stated the formation of the opposition-less United Democratic Alliance (UDA) government by all the collective elected members of the 13th Nagaland Legislative Assembly was the logical step taken to bring solution before next election as mandated.
“The elected legislators should resolve during their short timeline tenure to resign in mass to prove their commitment and pave the way for the Centre to take a final call for early solution otherwise the Nagaland electorates should reject all the present elected members in the next year election,” stated ACAUT.
Stating that this year is the silver jubilee milestone for one of the longest running “Ceasefire” in the world, ACAUT said Nagas should deliberate whether that merits jubilation or introspective analysis.
“As for the general public the Ceasefire have instead granted legal licence for multiplying factions with unaccounted weapons issued under various categories, monitored by an effeminate Ceasefire Monitoring Group”, said ACAUT while also adding that the dozen of recognized “Naga Political Groups (NPGs)” are contented with the status quo and have resulted in the flooding of multiple and unabated taxations making life unbearable for the general public.
On the other hand the cancerous growth of unchecked corruption has rendered the fruits of statehood concentrated in the hands of a few. The delay in settlement has led to the decay of basic Naga tenets and ethos. The competencies and agreed positions should be publicly discussed through the apex Naga tribal bodies with a sense of urgency under a given deadline. Every Naga citizens as the major stakeholders should be part of any concluding agreement, as the will of the people reigns supreme, said ACAUT.
OTING MASSACRE: Terming that the horrendous Oting massacre was a major symptomatic eruption of a dysfunctional state where an animal life has more rights than a human life, ACAUT stated the provisions of APSPA not only curtails the fundamental rights of a citizen under the Indian Constitution but treats people living under the disturbed area as suspects and can be killed without question.
It said the very basic right to live is trampled under this draconian law enabling military occupation. “For 64 years long Nagas have endured extra judicial killings, random unaccounted rapes, unwarranted arrests and excesses that have degraded human dignity without a ray of hope for justice”, said ACAUT.
The Supreme Court of India continues to be a stoic and gagged spectator against its own citizens when it upheld the imposition of AFSPA in 1997 after 15 years of lawsuit. If the Centre has not given prosecution sanction under the pretext of threat to national security and sovereignty, then the Centre should neither delay in giving an honourable Naga solution, it further added.
The resurrection of APSPA vis-à-vis the December 4, 2021, Oting massacre should be the wake up clarion call to resolve the protracted “Indo-Naga political issue” once and for all. The Hornbill Festival preceded the Oting massacre and the overwhelming mourning period brought about an abrupt ending to the festival of festivals, exposing the contradictory events and paradoxical world with which the Nagas live every day, ACAUT stated.
Reminding that it was in the same Festival in 2014 during the inaugural speech that the Prime Minister emphasized to showcase the Nagas “unique cultural heritage” to others and make Nagaland and India beneficiaries, however, the rupturing of the sensitive political wound of Nagaland’s “unique history”, every now and then curtails and punctures the window of hope and opportunities especially for the youths, ACAUT also added.
Also informing that India as a signatory of the United Nation Universal Declaration of Human Rights is not only belittling its commitment but also committing apartheid among the mongoloid Nagas in the eyes of the world, ACAUT said many Naga revolutionary leaders have given their all but some have instead mired in petty infighting making the Naga cause minuscule and demeaning the generational sacrifices, while adding that the upcoming young generation of Nagas should be dignified global citizens, proud of our cultural identity and factual historical foundation, based on truth and respect.
The December 20, 2021 Assembly resolution to repeal APSPA has been made a farce by overriding the Article 371(A) provision which state that no Act of the Parliament shall apply in Nagaland unless the State Assembly decides by extending the APSPA for another 6 months, said ACAUT while mentioning “The Pied Piper’s tune of the politicians for early solution during every election” has taken the Naga public for a ride, as many ran with the hare and hunted with the hounds for too long.
ACAUT further said that the time of reckoning has come for the young Nagas to decide to live for something rather than die for nothing, to sink in chaos or rise to challenges and that this New Year should be a harbinger for the Nagas to stomp our feet together and declare, enough is enough of everything that is rotting in Nagaland.
“We are at the threshold of transition and when the right time comes to rise to the occasion, the onus will be on us to roll”, added ACAUT.