'Is Nagaland state inferior to Assam', asks Chishi :::::::: Pughoboto seat row 'unfair' to legacy of Isak Chishi Swu

'Is Nagaland state inferior to Assam', asks Chishi on Rio-Himanta bond

New Delhi 

Former Nagaland Chief Minister K L Chishi on Wednesday expressed deep anguish at the manner political matters of Nagaland state are being 'decided' by the Chief Minister of Assam Himanta Biswa Sarma.  

former Nagaland CM Chishi

Lambasting Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, who served as a Minister in the Chishi ministry in 1990, the former CM said, "On any issue concerning Nagaland, the present government headed by Mr Rio cannot take independent decisions without consulting Hmanta Biswa Sarma.

So the question before Nagas is, has the Nagaland statehood been reduced to a subsidiary to Assam and its Chief Minister". 

"Is the Nagaland state now inferior to Assam?," Chishi told 'Nagaland Page'  in a telephonic interview. Answering questions, Chishi lamented that - "The Nagaland Chief Minister has reduced himself to be a mere stooge to the BJP and the Assam Chief Minister". 

He also cautioned that the BJP-NDPP seat share review will be worse and it can "add fuel to the fire".  

He said, "I am nobody to talk about internal matters of BJP and NDPP. But frankly the controversies and differences between these two parties are no longer internal...They have made it national and international".

"So, as a keen political observer, I will say, the first mistake is the alliance arrangement has gone wrong. But if they review it now, I am afraid they will only add fuel to the fire". 

He also said while the NDPP and the BJP have struck an alliance, "it is very strange that the leaders of two parties from Nagaland even sit together along with Himanta to allocate the tickets".

"My view is that once an alliance agreement is struck, then the NDPP should take care of its own house; and the BJP should take care of its house. But two parties sitting together to allocate tickets for aspiring candidates is unheard of," he said. 

"It is all the more worse that the Naga leaders from these two parties are appealing to the Assam Chief Minister and going to him with folded hands. This is something very strange". 

He said, "It is for the first time in the history of Naga politics that our Chief Minister has bowed before the sitting Assam CM on matters concerning Naga issues including elections and party affairs". 

"It is amazing that everything Rio does today is on the advice and guidance of Assam Chief Minister. At the end of the day, Himanta is only a Chief Minister of another state," he said.

To another question, Chishi said, "On the other hand Deputy Chief Minister Y Patton is turning out to be a political novice. 

Chishi, who has the mastery of throwing up one-liners, said, "Abraham Lincoln had said if you are to judge a leader, give him power. That's Patton's story today, he comes to that category".

BJP Karyakartas' protest

Pughoboto seat row 'unfair' to legacy of Isak Chishi Swu

New Delhi

Life is most of the time a bitter experience. Even legends are not spared. With some of course the 'bitterness' could haunt even in the grave and ironically for no fault of that man.

The Pughoboto assembly seat controversy in Nagaland between the NDPP and the BJP is such a case and  if anyone's reputation is 'hurt', it is the Late Isak

 Chishi Swu, the former Chairman of NSCN-IM. 

Muivah and Isak Swu 

Isak Swu's kin Y Vikheho Swu is now a sitting legislator and Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio is keen to accommodate him although in 2018 the seat had gone to the BJP quota.

IANS news

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The NSCN-IM has issued a denial of any 'interference' from its side on the matter after the row was kicked off over purported 'threats' to an aide of Chief Minister Rio so that Isak Swu's kin Vikheho Swu should be accommodated as NDPP nominee from the constituency.

The much trusted aide of Chief Minister Rio -- Abu Metha - also Secretary General of NDPP - allegedly made the remarks on Jan 19 meeting and of course, appreciating the urgency and gravity of the situation Rio himself 

signed the denial letter. Nevertheless the damage was done!

Damage is done to the reputation of a deceased person -- who probably never himself showed much interest in the Nagaland assembly polls at least prior to the 1997 ceasefire.

The NSCN-IM has also issued a denial stating as an organisation it cannot stoop so low.

Nagaland watchers will agree that left to him Late Isak Swu would say, it is by the “guidance of Holy Spirit that have seen me through this far”, courtesy his Facebook posting in 2016 when he expired.

Security apparatus in Nagaland and northeast knew that between Isak Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah,
the latter was the real "rebel leader". Swu had a much pleasant and agreeable personality and was well

focused with his knowledge on the cherished goals of Christianity and the teachings of Bible.

Even the Late Rajesh Pilot, as Internal Security Minister in the P V Narasimha Rao government, had said that
working out any peace initiative would have been much easier with Isak Swu than Muivah.
Pilot had met the two Naga rebel leaders in Paris in the 1990s and so did former Prime Minister Narasimha

Rao.

Born and brought up in Nagaland and someone who had baptism into journalism in Nagaland itself
in the early 1990s – when the writ of Isak Chishi Swu and his compatriot Muivah as the NSCN (IM) bosses
writ large – I am not quite sure whether Swu rejoiced the tag of being called a 'guerrilla or an
underground' or a militant leader. 

"Such persons are rebels to their own personalities," said one Swedish journalist in 2014 during our interaction 

in Itanagar in the context of Isak Chishi Swu.

Nevertheless, Swu, who like former NNC president A Zapu Phizo will continue to dominate the 

Naga politics one way or the other, perhaps never aspired to be known as a militant leader. 

So much was his love for Gospel teaching, that it may be proper to recall him as a rebel – who believed in the 

magical power of ‘Nagaland for Christ’.

But this Pughoboto assembly seat controversy vis-a-vis Swu's relatives is certainly a painful episode 

for some people to digest.

K L Chishi, former Nagaland Chief Minister is also a relative of Swu. "It is painful that my elder cousin Isak Chishi Swu's name has been dragged into a minor matter like Pughoboto assembly polls," says senior Congress leader Chishi; and he declined to speak out more.

But to persistent queries Chishi said, "Those responsible for dragging Isak Swu's name into this row must tender an apology to the late leader".

Little known Pughoboto township in remote Nagaland made headlines after the seat share row surfaced.

Pughoboto falls in Zunheboto district in the hub of the Sema tribe. The community forms numerical strength in the central region of the state and Semas as voters can easily influence election results in three-four assembly 

constituencies in Dimapur region besides as many seven segments in Zunheboto district.

In 2018, under the seat share agreement this seat was contested by the BJP. Dr A Sukhato Sema had contested the seat and Y Vikheho Swu of NPF had won the seat by a narrow margin of 70 votes only. 

Dr Sukhato is again aspiring for the saffron party ticket and has been working in the constituency.

Swu had shifted to Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio-led NDPP in 2021 and now the Chief Minister is 

under obligation to field Swu from the seat. 

As it is, Nagaland elections are being held under controversial circumstances and threats of boycott 

calls by some sections of Nagas in Eastern Nagaland.

The seat share between NDPP and the Lotus outfit has snowballed into a major issue for an otherwise

political party, the BJP. 

Statewide protest went across the state including in Kohima, Dimapur and other district towns.

BJP leaders Y Patton (deputy CM) and state unit chief Temjen Imna Along met Himanta Biswa Sarma

and other BJP leaders in Guwahati on Tuesday and sought to review the seat share arrangements to

30:30.

On Jan 6 during his meeting with BJP core group, Home Minister Amit Shah insisted that the party

will go ahead with 20:40 arrangements only. 

At Dimapur, all 60 BJP mandal presidents staged a protest in the Naga Shopping Arcade area on Tuesday

(Jan 24). 

They put up banners with slogans - “When Meghalaya has only 2 BJP sitting MLA and contesting from all 60 

mandals then why Nagaland is given a step motherly treatment".

Some of the banners were directed against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is also convener

of the BJP-led NEDA.

"Why Assam CM has the authority to decide the future of another State? Why not Modi?” - screamed another banner.

ends 

(Nirendra Dev is a New Delhi-based journalist. He is also author of books, 'The Talking Guns: North East India' and 

'Modi to Moditva: An Uncensored Truth'. Views are personal)

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Nirendra Dev

New Delhi