FORMER LOK SABHA MP BACKS ENPO DEMAND: Former Minister and Member of Parliament Lok Sabha Wangyuh Konyak today expressed support to the demand of the Eastern Naga People’s organization (ENPO) for a separate state
and claimed that “rather now, Nagas should come up with open support to the ENPO demand with financial, material, physical, prayer and moral support in order to have two states within Naga areas.” The “statehood demand is just to uplift the economic conditions of the ENPO areas in order to cope up with the other advance areas/tribes in all fronts and to start with equal position without interference from any quarter.
He claimed that the ENPO demand “is very simple and the demand is just to revive/restore back the erstwhile Tuensang Division of the North East Frontier Agency (NEFA) which has been merged with present Nagaland while the 16th Point Agreement was signed between the Government of India and the Naga People’s Convention (NPC) which is known to everybody and need not elaborate on this.”
When Nagaland state was created, special provisions were given to the state in Indian Constitution under Article 371A with special provisions for Tuensang administration for a period of ten years and still it exist in Indian Constitution, he said citing Article 371A(2)(b). “Now the question lies here is whether any successive governments in the state had ever applied this given provision in letter and spirit. Therefore, it needs serious study where it went wrong. According to my knowledge, it had never been applied and that’s why ENPO areas have been kept under backwardness.”
He acknowledged the Nagaland Cabinet for acknowledging the “ENPO’s problem” by constituting the Fact Finding Committee and Cabinet Sub-Committee to study in-depth the problems faced by the “ENPO people.” However, he queried “why the state government had recommended for a district autonomous council instead of recommending for separate statehood.” At least up to some extend, he said, “we know the rules and functions of the autonomous council. It is high time for the general public/leaders and all social organizations to differentiate between the Naga political issue and the statehood demand and it should not be mixed up in any manner.”
When Nagaland state was created, special provisions were given to the state in Indian Constitution under Article 371A with special provisions for Tuensang administration for a period of ten years and still it exist in Indian Constitution, he said citing Article 371A(2)(b). “Now the question lies here is whether any successive governments in the state had ever applied this given provision in letter and spirit. Therefore, it needs serious study where it went wrong. According to my knowledge, it had never been applied and that’s why ENPO areas have been kept under backwardness.”
He acknowledged the Nagaland Cabinet for acknowledging the “ENPO’s problem” by constituting the Fact Finding Committee and Cabinet Sub-Committee to study in-depth the problems faced by the “ENPO people.” However, he queried “why the state government had recommended for a district autonomous council instead of recommending for separate statehood.” At least up to some extend, he said, “we know the rules and functions of the autonomous council. It is high time for the general public/leaders and all social organizations to differentiate between the Naga political issue and the statehood demand and it should not be mixed up in any manner.”