Nagaland: ENPO welcomes Centre’s proposal to create autonomous council

ENPO, representing the Chang, Khiamniungan, Konyak, Phom, Sangtam, Tikhir, and Yimkhiung communities had been demanding for a separate state since 2010

Eastern Nagaland Peoples Organisation (ENPO), the apex body of seven Naga tribes in Eastern Nagaland has welcomed the Centre’s proposal to create an autonomous council comprising six districts of the state.

An ENPO delegation had met union home minister Amit Shah in December last year. (ANI image)

This development comes days after the central government had proposed autonomous territorial powers for six eastern districts of Nagaland to be governed by the ENPO to resolve an ongoing demand for a separate state, people familiar with the matter had said.

ENPO, representing the Chang, Khiamniungan, Konyak, Phom, Sangtam, Tikhir, and Yimkhiung communities had been demanding for a separate state since 2010 mainly due to socio-economic backwardness.

According to the ENPO, following series of formal parleys with the government of India since 2015 and the state government, the Centre recently offered the formation of Frontier Naga Territory with legislative, executive, administration, and financial autonomy.

This new autonomous council’s performance will be reviewed after a period of 10 years to assess its efficacy to fulfil the aspirations of the people of eastern Nagaland.

“Also considering the sentiments of our Naga brothers and sisters towards unity and togetherness we have accepted the proposal without insisting on dividing the Nagaland State,” ENPO said in a statement on Tuesday.

“We stand on the threshold of this dialogue; we hope to move forward courageously with the prayers and blessings of our fellow Nagas to a future where we can be equal contributors to the prosperity of our Naga fraternity,” it added while appealing to the state government and other Naga communities to extend their support towards fulfilling the demand of the people of the region.

Meanwhile, after postponing the consultative meeting scheduled to be held on Friday on the issue, the chief minister Neiphiu Rio-led Nagaland cabinet held a meeting on Wednesday instead in Kohima.

According to people privy to the meeting confirmed to HT that the Centre’s proposal for formation of Naga Frontier Territory was discussed.

They, however, refused to divulge further details.

Meanwhile, some political observers in the state while supporting the granting of autonomous powers to the six ENPO districts have expressed their reservations that the Centre might not be able to implement its proposal soon as it could have political ramifications in the northeast region given the ongoing Manipur crisis.

According to a government official, on condition of anonymity said, the Centre cannot afford to jump into implementing its proposal on ENPO as there are a “few modalities that are yet to reach a consensus between the Centre and ENPO”.

“Even if things are finalised, the central government will have to think twice before actually implementing the autonomous council to ENPO, considering the current situation in Manipur,” the official said.

Naga People’s Front (NPF) legislator Kuzholuzo Nienu observes that if the Centre is prepared to talk about an autonomous regional council for ENPO, it should apply the same yardstick to the Manipur crisis.