New Delhi
The project 'new statehood' or Union Territory status is a powerful tool. It has a mystery and somewhat a mystique associated with.
The Eastern Naga People's Organisation (ENPO) demand is well known. Even on May 27 meet at Dimapur, the ENPO resolved that Prime Minister Narendra
Modi will be requested for early declaration of the Frontier Nagaland state for eastern region.
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A new statehood demand is never without resistance. In the case of Jharkhand, the then powerful man in Bihar politics, Lalu Prasad Yadav, had threatened that the bifurcation of his state was possible only over his 'dead body'.
During Atal Bihari Vajpayee time three states were created in 2000 - Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand.
Some years later the Congress messed up the entire process of granting statehood to Telangana.
There was violence in both the states and many people lost their lives and property.
However, during the Manmohan Singh regime, senior Congress leader Oscar Fernandes also tried to broker a peace deal between Naga militants and the Government of India. Around that time,
some suggestions were made for a vulnerable part of the northeast region also.
The services of Nagaland Congress leaders were sought. One retired personnel from a central agency was also involved. But no much headway was made. The 'UT-plan' in a northeastern state (not related to ENPO demand or Nagaland) was 'rejected' outright by an important player. Whether the move would have yielded expected results, it is difficult to guess.
Even those trying to discuss on the issue were also reportedly "threatened".
Was that a lost opportunity? Now, in circa 2022, the only option left is to look behind on some of these issues and ponder about.
In 2019, the Modi government - known for its use of the phrase 'double engine' - used double shocker treatment. It abolished the Art 370 from India's only Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir and over and above - bifurcated the state making it UT and also granted Union Territory status to the Ladakh region.
People in Ladakh welcomed the move. The vocal BJP MP from Ladakh Jamyang Tsering Namgyal
made a powerful speech in the Lok Sabha exposing the double standards of Congress and other
leaders such as Mehbooba Mufti and Abullahs. The Modi government still retains such powers to create new UTs and take related steps.
The Babudom in Delhi is often surprised to note that some Nagas now find R N Ravi's offer
was better than Mishra's.
One can never argue that the UT status or new statehood solves all problems.
There are multiple issues in smaller states like Jharkhand and Uttarakhand. The BJP changed
three chief ministers in Uttarakhand only last year and the resource-rich Jharkhand
now makes news for wrong reasons - one of them is corruption.
An independent legislator could become Chief Minister of Jharkhand during the UPA rule
and the individual leader Madhu Koda also went behind bars.
The beauty of Indian democracy is such that Koda was not the only independent MLA to become CM.
Bishwanath Das became independent MLA CM in Orissa in 1971 and Flinder Anderson Khonglam in Meghalaya in 2002.
The moot point is problems are never over and that the Indian democracy is vibrant.
The state of Nagaland is now amid debates over ENPO demand and what are the implications
and competencies of the Framework Agreement and the Agreed Position.
The NNPG insiders would say, "we adopted win-win approach based on contemporary reality".
"A Naga revolutionary leader needs to be pragmatic, realistic and someone with utmost
tolerance to build a platform for peaceful co-existence with Indian brothers and sisters," NNPG convener
N Kitovi Zhimomi himself told a meeting of select people earlier this year in February.
A recent NSCN-IM statement sounds critical of NNPG and says - "R N Ravi signed Agreed Position (with NNPG) as an escape route to disown the Framework Agreement".
In October 2020, former Mizoram Governor Swaraj Kaushal, who was the first peace interlocutor in Naga talks in 1998, had urged rebel leader Thuingaleng Muivah to be 'realistic' and said the latter should not press for a Flag and a separate Naga Constitution.
"Brother, you have maturity and understanding. Please be realistic and not press for such demands. Please live and prosper in a democracy. Everything in this country (India) belongs to the people," Kaushal had written in a series of tweets.
ends
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