Guwahati Meet' on Jan 30 holds key to several Naga questions
Source: Nirendra Dev *

New Delhi/Guwahati, January 30 2023: "The Core problem lies in creation of a system that does wonder to a few elites and the gang and families; but does not deliver at all to the rest" .

It will be probably one those meetings in a decade's time.

The outcome of the deliberations could decide the fate of several politicians and also decide the future turn of events vis-a-vis the Naga 'roadmap' for Eastern Nagaland as well as for the Solution.

The centre's Advisor- North East, A K Mishra will be meeting leaders from Eastern Nagaland People's Organisation (ENPO) and other key leaders from Eastern Nagaland on Monday, Jan 30 in Guwahati wherein all issues will be discussed threadbare.

Of course the ENPO leaders have been meeting Mr Mishra time and again.

"The significance of Jan 30, Monday, meeting lies in the fact that all seven tribal bodies will also be represented in the meeting.

The views of tribal bodies vis-a-vis the future of Eastern Nagaland and ensuing Nagaland elections have become important as these organisations have given a clarion call for boycott of the polls," a source said.

Those in the know of things suggest the centre is keen to enlist 'the free and frank' views of these tribal bodies as they have also threatened to "expel" any leader and politician who will file nominations for February elections.

The Jan 30 meeting will hence see crucial deliberations and outcome will be again critical for the people of six districts in Eastern Nagaland .

The region wants a separate state carved out of the 16th state of Indian Union but the ENPO leaders feel that the stand taken by the 20 sitting legislators have complicated things for them.

When the then two -- Tuensang and Mon - districts were included in the 1960s to be 'part of the 16th state of Indian union that is the present day state of Nagaland', there were a lot of hopes and aspirations for seven tribes from this region.

But the general complaint now is that this region has been failed by mainstream Nagaland.

"We also have our share of the blame ....look we still have people who are working solely guided by one or two individual from outside our Eastern Nagaland," lamented a leader on the condition of anonymity.

Seven tribes - Konyaks, Sangtams, Changs, Phoms, Khiamniungans, Yimchungrus and Tikhirs are native communities from this region.

Interestingly, at least one representative from each tribe will hopefully participate on Monday's discussions.

The representatives from gazetted officers' bodies and 'Naga National Workers Union' (of underground leaders and cadres) are also part of the ENPO system.

How much the Naga National Workers Union will influence the future course of actions remains to be seen.

It is not quite clear whether Monday meeting outcome is being linked to BJP's finalisation of tickets for Nagaland polls.

There were four BJP MLAs from the Eastern Nagaland in 2018.They were P.Paiwang Konyak, S.Pangyu Phom, H Haiying and V Kashiho Sangtam.

The BJP Central Election Committee meeting is likely only on Monday evening or even Tuesday (Jan 31).On Friday sitting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was eportedly not quite happy.

The Budget session of Parliament begins on Jan 31 with the Presidential address and next day the Finance Minister will present the Budget 2023-24 .

"This year's Budget will be the last full fledged Budget for the Modi Govt 2.0 before 2024 parliamentary polls," a source said implying the top BJP guns will be probably 'more than busy' on Jan 31 .

* The sender of this news can be contacted at nirendev1(AT)gmail(DOT)com .

Comment