News Analysis India

Tag: Nagaland CM

  • Mon killing clear abuse of AFSPA: Nagaland CM Neiphiu Rio

    By PTI

    KOHIMA: Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Thursday said the killing of civilians in Mon district by the security forces was a “clear case of abuse” of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act and said the incident, which took place five days ago was not the first instance of the people having to bear the brunt of the draconian law.

    Speaking at the ‘In Memorium’ programme organised by the government in memory of the 13 civilians, he said innocent lives have been cut short by the “most unfortunate and careless act of the Indian security forces”.

    AFSPA, he said, is law that has colonial genesis and is violative of human rights as it legitimises killing on mere suspicion and the people of Nagaland will continue to demand its repeal.

    Expressing his condolences to the Konyak community, to which the civilians belonged, the chief minister appealed them to maintain peace.

    “This is the time for you to defeat violence with non-violence. This is the time for the biggest Naga tribe to show the world that they also have the biggest heart,” Rio said.

    He took the opportunity to appeal to all Nagas political groups to “say farewell to arms”.

    “Unless we show and prove ourselves to be peace-loving and non-violent people, our demand for the repeal of AFSPA will not carry weight…Let us say that we do not want AFSPA. But let us also show that we do not need AFSPA. Let us also make sure that we do not, in any way, allow any force to derail the hard-won peace process,” Rio urged.

    Naga People’s Front legislature party leader T R Zeliang called AFSPA a “black law” which has not brought any good to the nation or its people.

    “Rather it has brought shame to the nation”.

    It is therefore high time for the leaders of the country to repeal such an act immediately in order to prevent inhuman activities meted out to its citizen, the former chief minister said.

    He said the Nagaland government has been writing to the ministry of home affairs almost every year against the application of AFSPA in the state.

    “But the Centre continues with the extension of AFSPA in our state despite having ceasefire agreement with NSCN(IM) since 1997 followed by signing of the Frame Work Agreement in August 2015 and the Agreed Position in November 2017.

    “This proves that the concept of federalism in spirit and unitary in practice enshrined in the Constitution is defeated,” he said.

    It is high time for the entire north east to come together and fight for its future, Zeliang added.

    The president of the Kohima unit of Konyak Union, H Angnyei Konyak hit out at a section of the media for their reports that the 13 coal mine workers and daily wage earners killed by the security forces on Saturday at Oting village were insurgents.

    This coupled with Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement in Parliament that the civilians were fired at when they did not heed the security forces’ order to stop and tried to flee had caused pain and anger in the people, he said.

    “Existence of peace in our land is a hard earned one,” he said and echoed Rio’s implorations to revoke the “draconian” AFSPA without any delay.

    “Nagas do not want to see another Oting in the country…Our hearts are heavy at the loss of the lives of the innocent civilians,” Konyak added.

  • Government carrying out aggressive COVID vaccination drive: Nagaland CM Neiphiu Rio

    By PTI
    DIMAPUR: Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Tuesday said that the government is carrying out an aggressive vaccination drive to stop the spread of COVID-19 cases in the rural areas of the state.

    He also said that the state government is strengthening the primary health centres.

    “The state government’s priority is not to allow the spread of coronavirus in the rural areas of the state and for which the government is undertaking aggressive vaccination drive and also strengthening the primary health centres (PHCs),” Rio told media persons on the sidelines of his visit to Institute of Hotel Management (IHM) in Dimapur.

    IHM Dimapur is being converted into a 100-bed makeshift hospital for COVID-19 patients.

    Rio also said that the government was trying its best for strengthening the health care facilities in the state particularly Dimapur as the district accounts for more than 60 per cent of the total COVID-19 cases in the state.

    The state government was trying its best to take care of COVID-19 positive people living below the poverty line, he said.

    Further, Rio announced that CIHSR Dimapur was chosen for the setting up of a 176 bed COVID-19 hospital with all required necessary infrastructures because of its reputation, expertise, manpower and minimal treatment cost.

    Christian Institute of Health Sciences and Research (CIHSR) has all the required facilities so when we have another hospital adjacent to that the working system becomes easy, Rio said.

    During the day, the CM also inaugurated the 30 bed COVID-19 Hospital at the Nagaland Police Referral Hospital, Chumukedima in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Y Patton, Ministers Pangyu Phom and Neiba Kronu, Advisors Zhaleo Rio and Mmhonlumo Kikon, DGP P John Longkumer and other senior bureaucrats.

    He also inspected the upcoming 75 bed COVID hospital in the same complex and expressed satisfaction with the progress of the work.

  • Nagaland CM Neiphiu Rio tells people to give ‘last push’ to Naga political solution

    By PTI
    KOHIMA: Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio has sought the collective effort of the Naga people to give the “last push” to achieve an honourable and acceptable solution to the vexed Naga political issue between the Government of India and the Naga negotiators.

    “The Naga political issue belongs to the people and therefore we need to do what can be done as per the prevailing situation to arrive at an agreement,” Rio said while addressing the inaugural session of the 29th biennial general conference of the Angami Students Uion (ASU) at Naga Heritage Village Kisama on Saturday.

    In this regard, he said that the leaders of the present generation must seriously deliberate on the issue.

    With the Naga history being recognised as “unique” and the Naga issue recognised as a “political issue”, he urged the Nagas to think and live accordingly.

    He assured that the state government is working along with the opposition party to expedite the Naga peace process.

    On the contentious issue of the Naga flag and constitution, Rio recalled his meeting with the Union Home Minister Amit Shah during his recent visit to Delhi and informed that Shah has said that there cannot be a separate flag and constitution for the Nagas.

    However, he said that a flag that symbolises the uniqueness of the Nagas can be used under the Indian Union during community functions, but not at government establishments or meetings.

    Also dwelling on the government’s initiative to create a Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN), Rio recalled that the implementation of Inner Line Permit (ILP) in Dimapur was done following the report of a committee led by Abhishek Singh.

    He said that the question of who will come under the purview of ILP was then raised, which also led to the need to identify who is an indigenous inhabitant of the state.

    He said that the government is conducting several consultative meetings with the tribal leaders on the issue of RIIN as it needs to be thoroughly deliberated.

    He highlighted about the important role of the village councils who will be responsible to certify who is indigenous and native and later would be verified by the respective district administration.

    The CM appealed to all those who are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine to seize the opportunity.

    Expressing discontentment that only around 15 per cent of the people in the state have been vaccinated so far, he urged the students to also create awareness about vaccination.

  • Implementation of RIIN will take time: Nagaland CM Neiphiu Rio

    By PTI
    KOHIMA: Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Tuesday said that implementation of Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN) will take time and no deadline should be set on this matter.

    The state government had in 2019 said that the RIIN, a register of all the indigenous inhabitants of Nagaland, is required to prevent issuance of indigenous inhabitant certificates to ineligible persons.

    According to a notification of June 29 that year, the RIIN will help identify the citizens who settled in Nagaland prior to December 1, 1963, the day it became a full-fledged state.

    On the appeals of the civil society organisations and tribal bodies asking the government to implement it, Rio said that the government is working on the issue.

    “We have to give protection to all and everybody should get their rights,” the chief minister said.

    Rio told the media that the government should be allowed to function without setting any deadline as such matters have to be done properly.

    Only those whose names figure in the RIIN will be issued indigenous inhabitant certificates and all other certificates would become invalid after the final register is ready, the government had said earlier.

    The RIIN Committee has already submitted its report and the Cabinet has also approved it, but the implementation is taking time, Rio said.

    The chief minister refused to comment on a recent letter written by Governor R N Ravi asking his government to act against employees posting “seditious” materials on social media, but said that steps will be taken against anyone uploading such posts.

    However, he said, “If any government servant or member of the public writes things which is against the state, the law will take its own course.

    ” Rio said that the state assembly will pass resolutions during the upcoming budget session of the assembly to implement the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Securities Interest (Sarfaesi) Act, 2002 in the state.

    The Sarfaesi Act allows banks and financial institutions to auction properties (residential and commercial) when borrowers fail to repay their loans.

    It enables banks to reduce their non-performing assets by adopting measures for recovery or reconstruction.

    During the budget session to be held from February 12 to 20, a resolution will also be passed on the vexed Naga political issue, the chief minister said without elaborating.

    The government will also take up a discussion on improving revenue generation in the power sector as it has become “very very important” for the state, he told reporters after inaugurating the Nagaland Assembly’s automated digitised library and online training centre.

    He described the Union budget as people friendly and expressed hope that the farmers issue will be resolved through dialogue.