Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio clarified on Monday that the draft proposal of the Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) for the ‘Frontier Nagaland Territory’ was personally handed to him by Union Home Minister Amit Shah with the intention to discuss it with legislators and Eastern Nagaland Peoples’ Organization (ENPO).
Responding to queries from media persons on the sidelines of the ongoing Assembly session, Rio addressed reservations by some sections regarding the draft presented by the Eastern Nagaland Legislatures’ Union (ENLU) during the February 9 meeting with ENPO.
Rio affirmed that the draft indeed originated from the Home Ministry and was handed over to him directly by Union Home Minister Amit Shah for discussion with elected members and the ENPO. Rio acknowledged the confusion arising post the February 9 meeting, where conflicting statements emerged.
While ENLU members stated that the proposed draft was unanimously rejected by all members present at the meeting, the ENPO clarified that until it officially receives the final draft from the Centre through proper channel, no decision will be made to either accept or reject it.
Rio disclosed that the cabinet had decided that ENPO and ENLU should convene a meeting to address the issue. “It is more like power sharing,” he said, emphasizing that the best approach would be determined based on whether the parties accept the draft or not. “If not then it should be relooked at and we will communicate the message to the Home Ministry,” he added.
Regarding ENPO’s stand for direct receipt of the draft without involving a third party, Rio said that if ENPO wishes, they can directly request it from the Home Ministry (MHA) since they are already in direct talks with them. However, since the state government was assigned to do, they proceeded accordingly, Rio said. On the issue of scrapping the Free Movement Regime, Rio noted that the matter would be discussed during the ongoing session of the house.