The Rising People’s Party (RPP), a political party based in Nagaland, has expressed its anger over the extension of the Disturbed Area Act (DAA) in Nagaland. The party then questioned the Nagaland government on the matter.
“The extension of Disturbed Area Act by the Government of India for another 6 months till June 2022 has come as a shock to a mourning people but the question is-- could the state government have done anything differently?” it asked, while adding, “The answer is yes”.
The RPP then said that the extension is nothing but the abject failure of the NDPP, BJP and NPF coalition government of Nagaland to convince the Government of India that post Oting massacre, it is capable of handling law and order situation in the state with or without AFSPA. “To simply put, the UDA coalition government in Nagaland is irresponsible and continues to play with the lives of its citizens,” it alleged.
The RPP then said that it took the chief minister of a neighbouring state, Conrad Sangma, to point out the fact that the role of a state government is very crucial in the lifting of AFSPA – citing the example of Meghalaya. “Conrad’s press conference in Dimapur on December 28 was a severe indictment of the UDA coalition government of Nagaland, the underlying salvo being that as far as upholding law and order is concerned the writ of the coalition government does not exist”, the RPP added.
Therefore, the RPP asked, “Did or did not the UDA coalition raise its objection to the extension of the DAA? Were any written assurance made to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) guaranteeing that since law and order is a state subject it would uphold such?” The RPP then demanded that the UDA coalition government in Nagaland clarifies on this issue.
According to the RPP, for a long time the “suffering Naga public” has been demanding that the state government controls all the “illegal activities being committed by the various Naga factions”. The RPP added by saying, “But for too long, our state leaders purposefully keep blaming the unresolved Naga political issue for all the ills in the state”.
According to the RPP, since the successive state governments abdicated their responsibilities to govern and uphold the rule of law, it gave the Government of India the necessary excuse to impose AFSPA in the state despite the continued protestations of the Naga civil society organisations. “Something had to give in, and very unfortunately the Oting massacre happened,” the RPP stated. “Our politicians have blood on their hands. The UDA coalition has lost the moral right to rule. The RPP is committed to the rule of law,” it added.
