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Mahanta, Jamir support autonomy for states

Nitin Gogoi in Guwahati

Nagaland chief minister S C Jamir on Wednesday joined the autonomy bandwagon saying that there is a need to give more autonomy to the states without disturbing the national unity.

Addressing a press conference at his official residence here, Jamir said his government does not oppose the Jammu & Kashmir government's demand for greater autonomy.

Asked whether his government would also insist on greater autonomy for Nagaland, Jamir said: "Why should we object to greater autonomy for Nagaland when we are engaged in a political dialogue. As long as it (autonomy) does not disturb the unity and integrity of the country, there is no harm in giving more autonomy to the states."

Jamir said his government never hindered the peace talks between the NSCN (IM) and the Centre and claimed that it was his government which convinced Delhi to accept that the Naga problem was not a law and order problem but a political issue.

"We do not want to belittle the Naga problem, neither shall we deviate from our earlier stand," Jamir said.

The chief minister said the 16-point pact was not a creation of his Congress party, but a product of the Naga People's Convention (NPC) giving birth to Nagaland to give a separate identity to the Nagas.

Jamir said all the clauses, including the Clause 13, which have not been implemented yet by the Centre should be implemented in toto to fulfil the desire and aspirations of the people. The Clause 13 of the pact stipulates integration of all Naga contiguous areas under one fold.

In Assam, the influential All Assam Students Union has said the outright rejection of the Jammu and Kashmir autonomy demand by the Union Cabinet would send wrong signals to the insurgent outfits and now it would be difficult to persuade them to come to the negotiating table.

Prabin Boro, AASU president, today strongly criticised the Central government for rejecting the autonomy demand without proper discussion.

He said the Central government should have started a nationwide debate on the issue. He said that by rejecting the resolution of a State Assembly without proper discussion, the Central government had set a dangerous trend. Such an action by the Union Cabinet would make the insurgents think twice before coming to the negotiating table, he added.

The AASU is of the view that more autonomy should be given to the states and apart from four subjects - currency, external affairs, defence and communication - all other subjects should be handed over to the state governments. Boro said that restructuring of the Constitution of India to provide for a true federal structure is the need of the hour.

Commenting on the demand by the state government for more autonomy to the states, Boro said that the AGP-led government had adopted a contradictory stand on the issue. On one hand, the government demanded more power to the state, while, on the other hand, the government failed to show its interest in handing over power to the grassroots level by its failure to hold the panchayat polls, he added.

Meanwhile, Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta today criticised the state Congress president for opposing the demand for more autonomy to the states.

In a statement here today, Mahanta reiterated that decentralisation of power is a must for the all round development of the states and demanded that the issue should be discussed in Parliament and state assemblies.

"The Congress party, which took the help of an organisation engaged in a war against the country, during the elections, should not talk about unity and integrity of the country," Mahanta added.

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