Naga issue: All is not well within JLF
Source: Hueiyen News Service / Newmai News Network
Dimapur, January 06 2013 :
All is not well in the 60-Nagaland MLAs' forum floated to push for early settlement of the vexed Naga political issue.
The Joint Legislature Forum (JLF) floated in the middle of last year by the 60 MLAs of Nagaland Legislative Assembly cutting across party lines suffered a huge set back as the ruling and the opposition parties have strategical clash and ideological differences.
As of today, the ruling Naga People's Front (NPF) and the Congress led Opposition parties are fast heading to different directions triggered by various differences.
One among has been that the Opposition parties want all the sitting MLAs resign enmasse as part of the tactics to pressure on the Central government to expedite the ongoing Naga peace talks.
The ruling NPF opposes this idea saying in the event of the resigning of enmasse by all the legislators there will be a vacuum that will be immediately addressed by the Centre in the form of the President's Rule.
The NPF reasons that Nagaland had enough bitter experiences whenever the President's Rule was imposed in the past.
Meanwhile, amid this development, a local daily based here had reported today that the Opposition parties including the Congress, the BJP, the NCP, the JD(U), the Trinamool Congress and the RJD had a closed door meeting yesterday and had decided not to participate in the January 8 JLF meeting to be convened by the Nagaland Legislative Assembly Speaker.
Observers said that if the Opposition parties do not participate in the January 8 JLF meeting then there will be serious blow to the Joint Legislature Forum (JLF) itself.
Last year sometime in August, the JLF after its formation had created much waves in Nagaland as the forum became very vocal pressing New Delhi to expedite the ongoing Indo-Naga peace talks.
The JLF had, in more than one occasion threatened to resign enmasse demanding early settlement of the Indo-Naga political issue.
Members of the JLF headed by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio had gone to New Delhi on two or three occasions to meet Central leaders of both the Ruling and the Opposition parties urging them to expedite the Naga peace process.