Don't file nominations : NNPGs

    01-Feb-2023
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Newmai News Network
DIMAPUR, Jan 31: With hardly a month to go for the Nagaland State Assembly election, the Working Committee (WC) of NNPGs has appealed to all “conscience driven candidates to refrain from filing nominations in the ensuing Indian election in Nagaland.”
In a statement, the NNPGs said, “The intending candidates, in the midst of Indian poll bugle noise, can still hear voices of sanity and take correct decisions for future Naga generations”.
The NNPGs also said, “It is time to reinforce Naga political and historical truth to both the GoI and Naga populace. It is a time to shout for Naga legitimate rights and not be a slave to any Indian political party”.
The NNPGs stated that the Naga history will acknowledge and accord the highest respect to such intending candidates and leaders who exhibit such spirit to awaken the Nagas.
The statement added, “They and their off-springs will harvest both visible and invisible blessings and goodwill. They will be deemed pathfinders and true patriots of Nagaland for rekindling the Naga vision”.
It further said that “Indian elections have been forced upon the electorate of Nagaland despite the conclusion of the political dialogue between the Government of India and Naga negotiating groups.”
The NNPGs expressed regret that “unrestrained voice and demand of the Naga tribes and civil societies for solution and not election have been set aside to allow the so-called democratic exercise.” The NNPGs’ statement said that it is a tool to weaken the legitimate historical and political rights of the Nagas.
The NNPGs also asked the intending candidates to pause and reflect on the history of political conflict between India and Nagas.
It also reminded the Government of India leadership that by 1950, the appeal by Nagas to be left alone to determine their own future if the Britishers left India, was responded with “military operations of unimaginable savagery.”
The statement of the NNPGs added, “The murderous vengeance against innocent Naga men, women and children haunts the Naga psyche till today. The wounds and the scars remain. The destruction of Naga wealth, systematic procrastination, dismantling of Naga culture and civilization cannot be compensated by money or electoral politics, but only by an honourable and acceptable political solution. This is where the Government of India’s political leadership and Nagaland State politicians are failing the Naga people”.
When juxtaposed with the Indo-Naga political talks, elections in Nagaland are a “nuisance, an extravagant indulgence and a conference of wanton thieves and braggarts to loot the beleaguered Naga populace for another five years,” the NNPGs alleged.
According to the NNPGs, eligible men and women have the liberty to vote or abstain, while acknowledging that many will naturally exercise their vote believing in the “tall poll promises” or trusting in the calibre of candidates. The NNPGs then added, “They are compelled to vote not because they are Indians but the societal structure deems it”.