Naga peace talks on, PM Modi's initiative will bear fruit: Shah

PTI

Tuensang (Nagaland), Feb 21

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said Naga peace talks were underway and hoped the initiative taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring lasting peace in the Northeastern state would bear fruit.

Addressing an election rally in Tuensang, Shah said there were some issues related to development and rights of eastern Nagaland and those will be addressed after the Assembly elections. “There was an insurgency in Nagaland before 2014... We started the peace process. I am hopeful that the initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi will bear fruit in bringing lasting peace in the state with the preservation of Naga culture, language and tradition,” he said.

The Eastern Nagaland People’s Organisation (ENPO), the apex tribal body in the region, had called for a boycott of the Assembly elections over their ‘Frontier Nagaland’ separate statehood demand.

“The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has held discussions with the ENPO and an ‘agreed agreement’ has been reached. But we could not materialise it due to the implementation of the model code of conduct. I promise you all that after the election, the agreement will be implemented through which all issues of eastern Nagaland will be addressed. There will be massive development in the region and you will get your rights,” he said.

Asserting that several measures were taken in the last nine years of the BJP rule at the Centre to bring peace in the Northeast, he claimed that there was a 70 per cent dip in violent incidents in the region during the period.

“There has also been a 60 per cent reduction in deaths of security forces, while civilian deaths have dipped by 83 per cent in the Northeast,” he said.

Noting that the Armed Force (Special Powers) Act, 1958, has been lifted from large parts of Nagaland by the BJP government, he expressed hope that the Act would be removed from across the Northeastern state in the next three to four years. — PTI

2 persons kidnapped; vehicle torched

Tizit (Nagaland): Two persons were kidnapped from the residence of a Naga People's Front (NPF) candidate and a vehicle was torched in Mon district of poll-bound Nagaland, a top police officer said on Tuesday. One person was later released by the kidnappers while an operation was on to rescue the other, he said.