The NSNC(IM) on Monday lashed out at Nagaland Governor RN Ravi over his statement that India as a nation should have a sovereign territory, one Constitution, and one national flag.
In reaction, the outfit advised RN Ravi not to bite off more than he can chew as far as the Indo-Naga issue is concerned. “Will RN Ravi, the interlocutor of the Government of India to the Naga peace talks, speak in the same bipolar language as this RN Ravi, the governor of Nagaland state, does,” the NSCN asked. It went on to say that it cannot agree more with Ravi’s statement on the Constitution and flag.
“Indeed, in the same breath Nagaland/Nagalim too must have sovereign territory, one constitution and one national flag within which the two must share sovereign powers and coexist peacefully as two entities as agreed upon in the Framework Agreement where he himself is a signatory,” the outfit said in a release.
Ravi in his speech on the 58th statehood day of Nagaland on Tuesday said, “The Government of India is absolutely clear that there is and there shall be only one national flag and Constitution in India.”Anyone talking anything contrary is peddling preposterous lies. They are trying to confuse and mislead the people,” he said.
“Any person on Earth that runs the blood of the Nagas will certainly have been provoked by the “irresponsible statement” made by Ravi on the anniversary of Nagaland’s 58th Statehood Day.” said the NSCN
It said that the statement of Ravi had jog Naga people’s memory, of how under the leadership of AZ Phizo the war of resistance of the Nagas against the “Indian colonialists” were “manipulated” by the Intelligence Bureau officials “who roped in some of the treacherous Naga individuals, mostly Indian government employees, that formed a superfluous body called the Naga People’s Convention (NPC)”. Later the NSCN said while the Government of India and the Naga people are fully committed to resolving the issue through peaceful means which is at its concluding stage.