Tuensang (Nagaland): Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday asserted that Naga peace talks are underway and hoped that the initiative taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring lasting peace in the northeastern state will bear fruit.
Addressing an election rally in Tuensang, Shah said there are 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.
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 has held discussions with 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 elections, 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 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.
He said more than 100 developmental projects, including 13 in Nagaland, have been finalised after conducting extensive studies using space technology.