Silent Nagaland and Modi factor By Oken Jeet Sandham For quite some time, the citizens particularly the youth seemed to be pregnant with angers ready to explode any time against the menace of corruption and Governor PB Acharya, since his assuming office in Nagaland, has been vocal to get rid of corruption from the soil of the state. The other day the governor while attending 24th Anniversary of the Nagaland Post on November 3, 2014 at Dimapur openly attacked the state politicians for the present state of affairs in the state. He said the rampant corruption in the state of affairs had derailed the economic plan, while also pointed out that the Naga people’s greed for easy money was the main reason that had emboldened rulers to indulge in corrupt activities. After two days of his unusually strong worded criticism against the state politicians for the rampant corruption in the state, state vigilance sleuths conducted raids on the residences of agriculture minister Dr Benjongliba Aier on November 5. The raids hit across the political spectrum and created insecure environment among the political circles in the state. The raids were reportedly carried out without the knowledge of state chief minister TR Zeliang. Soon after the raids were over, a senior minister, who did not want to be named, disclosed that any ministers could be raided any time and none of them felt secure under the present Zeliang regime. Although the CBI cannot directly investigate into scams in any state without the sanction of that state government, there are reports that CBI might also probe against the oil exploration and state lottery issues in the state by next month. It is believed that under the new regime at the Center, it may not follow the mandatory procedure of seeking sanction from the state to investigate into any scams or ministers or officials. Modi may even overrule the existing mandatory procedures to get hold of those people responsible for the scams. According to sources, the Center is unhappy with at least the oil exploration and state lottery issues. One of the reasons the Center might be offended was the state government’s going ahead with framing of its own laws for oil exploration works and inviting companies to execute oil explorations in the state. The steps taken by the state have already brought controversial questions to the fore that whether the Center is the only competent one to frame laws for such activities, because at least for the state of Nagaland with regard to land and its resources, it continues to argue that it is empowered to frame its own laws as per the Article 371 A (1) of the Indian Constitution that says: Notwithstanding anything in the Constitution- (a) no Act of parliament in respect of – (i) religious or social practices of the Nagas; (ii) Naga customary law and procedure; (iii) Administration of civil and Criminal justice involving decisions according to Naga Customary law; (iv) Ownership and transfer of land and its resources, shall apply to the State of Nagaland unless the Legislative Assembly by a resolution so decides. Soon after the news of the raids on the agriculture minister’s residences spread, social media users took their turn continuing intense debates and wanted more such raids on other ministers too. Today the citizens have steadily come out against the state of affairs in the state and they are more concerned for their future and wellbeing, and not bothered who rules the state. Even before Modi’s high profile two-day visit to Nagaland, large number of citizens in the state particularly the educated youth had some doubts he would give any “economic packages” to the state. The biggest question mark is “Why they had doubts on the Prime Minister with regard to granting economic packages to Nagaland?” The simple answer is they knew what was going on in their state. Some concerned citizens and intellectuals were even against the grant of any economic packages to the state government. They demanded the government to come out with proper financial statements of past records before such grants happening. The Prime Minister, in spite of his reported desire to see the positive result of the Naga peace process within six months, has surprised the people by not uttering a single word on the Naga issue during his two-day stay in Nagaland. His silence on the Naga issue became a symbol of huge suspicion that he may bury Naga the issue forever, which his all predecessors had been nurturing to reach a logical conclusion. The state cabinet was also surprised as Modi did not have an audience with them when he was here for two days. He, however, gave 45 minutes to Nagaland BJP office bearers, functionaries and their legislators. While he was at Chumukedima Police Complex on November 30, he did not have even official dinner with the state council of ministers. He reportedly had his dinner alone. Even at Kisama, there was official grand lunch was arranged for him after the Hornbill Inaugural Function. But Modi skipped the official grand lunch soon after his Inaugural Function of the Hornbill Festival was over. It was reported that he had his lunch inside his chopper. Bottom Line: Buoyed by the visible growth of BJP in Nagaland where nearly 95% are Christian, Prime Minister Modi, while interacting with the state BJP legislators and workers at Chumukedima, told that the next Government in Nagaland would be BJP’s. His not uttering a single word on the state’s precarious financial positions during his two-day visit to Nagaland from November 30 to December 1, 2014 is only making state’s already dismal financial position more compounded. At the same time, the Center’s announcement that it would no more entertain providing any grants to any states will only push a state like ours to a “financial crisis.” Many citizens are imagining what type of destiny holds for them under the Modi regime and what can he deliver for them or whether their lives will improve at par with the rest of the country and the world. These are some of the questions to be asked and answers are yet to be seen. Till such time, the Nagas will continue to hope in silence as we have been doing for decades.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Dec 2014 09:18:36 +0000