Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said he was confident about complete withdrawal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) from Nagaland in the next three to four years.
Addressing a rally at Tuensang in Eastern Nagaland for the Assembly elections, Shah said insurgency related incidents in the Northeast decreased by 70 per cent in the past eight years since Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister.
"There was a 60 per cent reduction in deaths of security forces and 83 percent decrease in deaths of civilians due to insurgency in the region. Because of improvement in law and order situation in Nagaland, the AFSPA was withdrawn from areas under 15 police stations in seven districts. I hope the AFSPA will be withdrawn from the entire state in the next three to four years," said the Home Minister, while calling people of Nagaland to vote for the NDPP-BJP alliance in the Assembly elections on February 27.
Nagaland and the rest of the Northeast witnessed strong agitation for withdrawal of the AFSPA following the killing of 14 civilians at Oting village in Mon district in Eastern Nagaland in a botched operation by the security forces in December 2021. In March 2022, The Centre withdrew the AFSPA from several districts across Assam, Manipur and Nagaland. However, a demand for withdrawal of the AFSPA from the entire Northeast continues.
Stating that the Modi-government gave special emphasis for welfare of the tribals, Shah said the allocation for welfare of the tribals was increased from Rs. 21,000 crores in 2014 to Rs. 86,000 crores in 2022. "The allocation for development in Nagaland was also enhanced from Rs. 1,300 crores in 2009-10 to Rs. 4,800 crores in 2022-23," he said.
The NDPP and BJP are contesting the elections with a 40:20 seat sharing arrangement this time. The two parties had joined hands before the 2018 Assembly elections and have been in power since then.
Rio the leader
Shah announced Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio is the leader of BJP and its ally Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP). "In Nagaland, NDPP and BJP are contesting the elections under the leadership of Neiphiu Rio while Narendra Modiji is our leader at the national level. BJP and NDPP are not supporting candidates of any other party," Shah said.
Rio, now 72, is the longest serving CM in Nagaland. He was a senior leader in Congress but had later joined Naga People's Front. In 2017 he quit NPF and founded NDPP before contesting the 2018 Assembly elections with a seat sharing arrangement with BJP.
Pact for Eastern Nagaland
Shah said the Centre would sign an agreement with Eastern Naga People's Organisation (ENPO) after the Assembly elections in order to solve the problems confronting Eastern Nagaland.
"The MHA held a detailed discussion with the ENPO and reached an agreement about how to address the problems, whether it is rights based or the developmental needs. But an agreement could not be signed because of the Model Code of Conduct for the elections. After the elections, we will sign an agreement with ENPO to address all the problems of Eastern Nagaland," Shah said.
"The issues raised by ENPO about Eastern Nagaland are genuine," Shah said.
BJP's manifesto for the Assembly elections this time in Nagaland promised to set up an Eastern Nagaland Development Board, a special economic package for development of the region, beside others. Shah on Monday said the Centre is also hopeful about finding a solution to the seven-decades long Naga conflict.
Eastern Nagaland, comprising six districts, constitute about 30 percent of Nagaland's population and has 20 Assembly constituencies. The six districts are: Tuensang, Mon, Kiphire, Longleng, Noklak and Shamator.
The ENPO and other organizations had even issued a call for boycott of the Assembly elections saying the government failed to address the problems in Eastern Nagaland, which remained neglected.