Kohima: Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday alleged that the BJP government at the Centre has been pursuing the policy of ‘bluff and rule’, besides maintaining the ‘divide and rule’ strategy of the British.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi made several promises to the people of Nagaland about solving the Naga political issue but those were not kept, Ramesh alleged in a press conference at Kohima.
In the coming Lok Sabha elections, people need freedom from this BJP-led government, he said.
“The British ruled India for 200 years following the policy of divide and rule. Now, for the last 10 years, the BJP government under Prime Minister Modi has been following a policy of not just divide and rule but more importantly bluff and rule,” Ramesh said.
The Centre signed a Framework Agreement with the NSCN-IM in 2015 and “Modi termed it as a game changer”, he said.
The central government also inked an Agreed Position with Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs) comprising seven organisations in 2017, he said adding that Modi made promises to the Eastern Nagaland Peoples’ Organisation (ENPO) on its demand for a separate state.
“Every time Modi makes promises, he says it is a game changer… People don’t know the details of the different agreements and promises. But what we all know is that people have been bluffed by Modi,” he claimed.
“The most important issue for the people of Nagaland and the country is freedom. In 1947, we got freedom from divide and rule, while in 2024 we need freedom from bluff & rule,” he said.
The BJP’s agenda is to destroy the essence of India’s diversity including the varieties in religion, ethnicity, region, food and dress, he alleged.
The BJP-ruled Manipur has been burning for 11 months where people have been targeted for their religion and ethnicity, the senior Congress leader said.
Ethnic clashes between Meitei and Kuki communities since May last year have claimed at least 219 lives in Manipur.
Ramesh said he is afraid that what started in Manipur will spread over to other northeastern states to “destroy the diversity of the region”.
“The BJP has bluffed the Meiteis, Kukis and Nagas and the present situation is the outcome of its bluff and rule policy… Manipur should be a wake-up call to people of the northeast,” he claimed.
Ramesh affirmed that the Congress, once back in power, will work for protection of diversity of India which, he claimed, is under threat under the BJP-RSS.
He reiterated that special provisions guaranteed to the Nagas under Article 371(A) of the Constitution, especially with regard to ownership of land and its resources, would be protected at any cost lest it would also be done away with like Article 370 for Jammu & Kashmir.
On the Naga issue, Ramesh said that the Centre had started negotiations with the Naga group in the 1990s and the Congress was close to signing an agreement in 2013 but the party was defeated in the 2014 elections.
The framework agreement of 2015 came after over 80 rounds of negotiations spanning 18 years, with the first breakthrough in 1997 when the ceasefire agreement was sealed after decades of insurgency in Nagaland which started soon after Independence in 1947.
“There is a lot of history to what has happened to Nagaland but a new chapter must begin by embracing all sections of Naga society. It has to be an all-inclusive permanent settlement,” he said.
“Indians want freedom from bluff and rule, people want freedom of speech, want jobs and justice,” Ramesh voiced.
