Advisor for Information & Public Relations and Soil & Water Conservation Imkong L Imchen has demanded that the Congress should seek forgiveness from the Nagas over the countless atrocities it had committed on them.
Addressing the media here at his residence, Imchen said memories were still fresh about how the Nagas suffered under the Congress regime during Jawaharlal Nehru’s prime ministership, especially in the 1950s, 1960s and upto 1970s. He said that Nehru had commented, “Even if all the rivers run red with Naga blood, I don’t care,”which had cost Nagas people very dearly.
“Even if you want me to forget, I cannot because it is still fresh in my mind. All these atrocities committed on our people by the Congress government are still very vivid in my mind,” he said. He alleged that churches in urban and rural areas were turned into military concentration camps where the villagers were held up and tortured, claiming that even his father and brother were tortured in those camps.
Imchen said he had seen with his own eyes the results of how Nehru ordered military actions to totally annihilate Naga population.
He alleged that even when the chief of Indian Army suggested that the Naga movement was a political one and not a military conflict, and that guns would not solve the problem, Nehru was adamant on his stance to diffuse the situation through military might.
Imchenrecalled that when Zapu Phizo called Naga chiefs’ convention at Kohima, the high turnout of delegation shocked Nehru and the intelligence agencies.
He alleged that after the convention had decided to hold a plebiscite on the Naga issue, Nehru organised Naga People’s Convention at Kohima, Ungma and Mokokchung in the name and guise of the Naga peopleto disrupt the movement
He alleged that even the 16 Point Agreement was originally drafted by the intelligence agencies to disrupt the Naga movement, adding that Nagaland was created in lieu of independence.
But, despite all these moves to suppress the Naga movement, he claimed that the Central government under the Congress failed to disrupt it.
Pointing out that the Congress in its manifesto had promised amending Articles 15 and 16 of the Constitution of India, he feared that this would approve LGBTQIA and encourage homosexuality in Nagaland, which was totally against the tenets of the Bible.
Quoting Roman 1:21-31, he said Paul had instructed Christians not to indulge in all these unnatural behaviours.
“After committing criminal atrocities for more than two decades, they now want to encourage homosexuality,which was against the tenets of the Bible. The BJP is against such a move,” he declared.
He asserted that all the 60 members of the Nagaland Legislative Assembly, who were born Christians, would defend their faith before anything else.
Imchen pointed out that the BJP had never asked any of its members to convert their church into military camps, alleging that it was only the Congress that had caused sacrilege against the holy tenets of the Bible like no other party.
He said the consensus candidate of the PDA, Dr Chumben Murry, would win the election and that Narendra Modi would form the government at the Centre again.
He stressed that Nagaland being a consumerist state needed to have a harmonious and cordial relationship with the ruling party at the Centre, not just politically but even emotionally.
“We need to be in their good books,” he quipped.
He said before he had joined the BJP, the party had already formed a pre-poll alliance with the NDPP and had agreed to let Phangnon Konyak represent the Nagas in Rajya Sabha as a consensus candidate.
Now, as it was NDPP’s turn, he said the party decided to field Dr Chumben Murry as the official candidate and had informed the BJP, with the latter fully accepting and endorsing the decision, he pointed out.
Imchen claimed that chief minister Neiphiu Rio had taken the opinion of all the 60 legislators, who also agreed and extended their support, though some quarters, including church organisations, started targeting the BJP.
Some of these opinions were untenable nor in conformity to the reality, he opined.
Maintaining that Naga people deserved to know what the BJP meant to them and why the NDPP candidateshould represent them in Lok Sabha, he remarked that media reports of incidents of religious atrocities in the country needed to be fact-checked since some of these were “manufactured”.
He stated that though the Christian population in India was very small (around 2%) when compared with the Hindus who made up 80%, the Constitution of India provided freedom of religion as a fundamental right.
“I do admit that there are instances of atrocities, but not necessarily all these news are factual. I’m also Christian and would be defending my own, but again as a Christian I also have to speak the truth. My faith takes more prominence than my political affiliation. I’m not the one to believe everything,” he explained.
He pointed out since there were no FIR filed against such atrocities by the Congress or anyone, such reports could not be taken as solid evidence and claimed them to be factual.
He said when the BJP government in Assam enacted a law against magical healing and witchcraft, the Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA) discussed the matter and even passed a resolution that such a law was against the Constitution of India and hence Assam should not encroach into the faith of others.
As a Christian-dominated state, Imchen stated that all the 60 MLAs made their presence felt as Christians.
“We have expressed our concern in the House and that is a message clear enough for everybody to know about our position,” he pointed out.
Even in the case of Uniform Civil Code, when the NLA expressed reservations, he claimed the Central government exempted Nagaland from its purview.
Assuring that the BJP stood for peace, Imchen said being one of the longest-serving district Congress committee presidents in the state and having worked for the party for more than 30 years, he was fully aware of the Congress.
Regarding the scrapping of the Free Movement Regime (FMR), Imchen said he was resolute with his opinion he shared in the NLA in fully supportingthe scrapping. He stated that the Central government had the right to fence and secure the country’s borders.