The Rising People’s Party (RPP) in a letter addressed to the President of India Droupadi Murmu, has requested the President to travel by road and not by helicopter during her visit to the state on 2 and 3 November.

“…your visit is indeed an honor for a tribal state like ours but the general public would deeply appreciate if you could traverse by road instead of riding the helicopter,” the letter read.

The letter stated that the one and only time a visiting dignitary travelled by road in Nagaland was in 2004 when the Late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee travelled from Dimapur airport to the state capital Kohima.

The RPP wrote in the letter that the late prime minister, on experiencing the road condition, reportedly said: “If this is the best road in Nagaland, it is difficult to imagine how bad the worst is.”

The state government must surely have “a comfortable itinerary for the President visit including a helicopter ride to reach Kohima in 15 minutes instead of a road trip which may take 3 hours for a mere 74 km journey,” pointed out the RPP, adding that the state government’s decision may have been guided by “the often tried and tested cliché ‘Security Reason’”.

However, the RPP stated that the President, as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of India, is “well aware that Nagaland has been an oasis of peace for the last 25 years”. It also pointed out that the Union Home Minister Amit Shah had lifted AFSPA from 15 police stations areas in 7 districts of Nagaland (out of 16 districts).

The RPP while welcoming the President also stated that the state government alone may give an appropriate explanation for the oversight of the President’s visit which is coinciding with the sesquicentennial celebration of the advent of Christianity in Nagaland.

The party hoped that their humble suggestion to the President is taken in the right spirit.

Read more: Nagaland to welcome President of India on 2 November