Extremists want comforts of life, not solution to Naga issue: Nagaland Deputy CM

Yangthungo Patton said the Centre has been very clear on no separate flag and constitution as part of the peace deal

Senior extremist leaders do not want a solution to the “Naga political issue” so that they can continue to enjoy the comforts of life with public money, Nagaland’s Deputy Chief Minister Yanthungo Patton has said.

Speaking at a programme of the Central Nagaland Tribes Council in Wokha last week, he said the Centre was very clear on not allowing a separate Naga flag and constitution as part of the peace deal. The extremist National Socialist Council of Nagalim, or NSCN (Isak-Muivah), has been insisting on the flag and Yehzabo (constitution) for settling the peace process that started in mid-1997.

In a video of his speech that has gone viral on social media, Mr. Patton is heard saying: “Some big (extremist) leaders do not want solution. They want to keep relaxing and enjoying the comforts of life with money collected through extortion and taxes.”

The extremist groups in Nagaland run parallel governments, surviving on a range of “taxes” collected from villagers to traders and government employees.

“If this continues, I would say, go to hell. You won’t go to heaven. How can you go to heaven by causing so much hardship to the public? We must come out openly now. It is high time. Enough is enough. There is no other topic,” he said in a departure from the political tradition of playing it safe in Nagaland.

Mr. Patton is a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is a constituent of the United Democratic Alliance government in Nagaland headed by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio’s Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party.

Four MLAs of the Naga People’s Front and two independents are also part of the alliance in the State’s opposition-less 60-member Assembly, which refers to the extremists as “national workers”.