Nagaland: NPCC expresses shock at NDPP MP’s remark on Art 371 (A)

Dimapur: The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) expressed shock at the ruling Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) Lok Sabha MP Tokheho Yepthomi’s recent statement advocating revocation of Article 371 (A) in Nagaland.

Condemning Yepthomi’s statement, the NPCC said his subsequent rejoinder does not offer an iota of merit in terms of course correction necessitated by his original statement.

“It leads one to wonder as to whether the initiative was at all about course correction or one aimed at adding salt to injury,” the Pradesh Congress said in a release issued by its communication department on Monday.

Clarifying his statement, Yepthomi said he remarked only to “provoke the minds of fellow citizens” for the misuse of Article 371 (A) in matters of development activities.

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The NPCC reminded the MP that 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.

“We fail to see any justification that could be considered as even minutely justification enough for the atrociously ill-advised take of the lawmaker,” the NPCC said. It hoped that Yepthomi take back his words with an unconditional apology to the people of Nagaland.

It further said the NDPP's reaction towards this unfortunate development orchestrated by its MP is not at all helpful either.

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“It's a textbook lesson in political dereliction, coming from a place of utter ideological bankruptcy,” the Pradesh Congress said.

Reacting to Yepthomi’s remark, the NDPP said the statement of the MP is neither the view nor the opinion of the party or its leadership.

According to the NPCC, the office that the MP holds and the issue at hand are way too serious and consequential to be brushed aside simply by disowning it.

“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 and 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 NPCC added.