Nagaland stir may intensify today

Guwahati: After Arunachal Pradesh, the BJP is getting ready to turn Nagaland saffron by merging the Nagaland Peoples’ Front led by chief minister T.R. Zeliang into the party. NPF sources in Kohima told this newspaper that the BJP central leadership had given Mr Zeliang the go-ahead to merge his faction of the NPF with 42 legislators into the BJP. Mr Zeliang is understood to have begun consultations with his legislators stranded in their respective constituencies. The BJP has four MLAs in the present 60-member Nagaland Assembly, and is also part of the government led by Mr Zeliang.

Political observers felt that in view of the mounting pressure by the Nagaland Tribes Action Committee (NTAC) on Mr Zeliang to step down, this may also prove to be the safest escape route for him so he readily agreed to the merger. Sources said it was likely to be announced in a day or two, but also said there was every possibility of a split in the NPF as a large section of MLAs were opposed to a merger.

The NTAC, meanwhile, provoked by some remarks by the chief minister, decided on Sunday to intensify its agitation from Monday. The NTAC has called a meeting of the Naga Hoho, the Nagas’ apex body, in Kohima on Tuesday, and sources told this newspaper they would not allow this government to function till the CM resigns. Mr Zeliang has already rejected this demand by protestsrs.

Most state government offices have not been working since the agitation started, and security sources said the protesters had also locked the state secretariat and restricted the movement of government vehicles on the roads in Nagaland. The protesters only allowed private vehicles to ply, but the security sources said the administration had made arrangements to tackle the situation.

NTAC convenor K.T. Vilie and secretary C.T. Jamir on Sunday condemned the CM’s statement holding the protesters responsible for the death of two youths in police firing. “If chief minister T.R. Zeliang has any sense of modesty and reason, he must understand his accusation is a mockery of democratic principles and common sense and calls for punishment,” said the NTAC secretary.

In order to pacify angry protesters, the administration on Sunday transferred the police commissioner of Dimapur. The Angami Youth Organisation (AYO) has sealed the offices of almost all directorates with locks since Saturday. The joint coordination committee spearheading the agitation in Dimapur has urged people to hoist black flags Monday to register their protest against the government.