Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee has condemned Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) Tokheho Yepthomi’s statement advocating the revocation of Article 371A. NPCC also slammed the MP’s rejoinder where he said that his views were with pertaining to the “lack of development in our state because of the misuse of article” and “to provoke the minds of fellow citizens”.
Yepthomi had during a program in Chümoukedima said that he wishes Government of India will do away with Article 371A. Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP), which the MP represents, has since then distanced itself from the statement. Yepthomi, himself, had clarified that his “views are only my personal and does not reflect those of the NDPP or its leadership.”
Nagaland Congress meanwhile stated that the MP’s rejoinder “does not offer an iota of merit” and questioned “whether the initiative was at all about course correction or one aimed at adding salt to injury.”
“Article 371 (A) not only accords special category status to Nagaland as a state, but also serves as an acknowledgement, as well as a constant reminder to all concerned about the uniqueness of the history of the Nagas as a People”, NPCC reminded, demanding that MP Yepthomi take back his words and apologise to the people of Nagaland.
The Congress Party also criticized NDPP for its reaction to the statement, which is “way too serious and consequential to be brushed aside simply by disowning it”, given the Yepthomi’s position.
“It’s a textbook lesson in political dereliction, coming from a place of utter ideological bankruptcy”, it stated.
NPCC further said, “It is a collective tragedy that the NDPP’s ‘anything for power’ Ideology has turned it into a pliable agent of the RSS/BJP’s grand majoritarian scheme for uniformity & singularity across the Nation, and that it cannot even muster enough moral agency to censure and mete out proportionate disciplinary action against its MP for so blatantly taking a stand against the hard fought rights of the people of Nagaland.”
The Congress also assured that it will “fight tooth and nail for the preservation of the rights of the citizens of Nagaland as enshrined under Article 371 (A), and will continue to oppose any assault on the plurality and diversity of our Nation in general.”
