"NPF upholds rights of Nagas and promotes women's rights"

The Naga People's Front (NPF) today said it would uphold the inherent rights of the Nagas and protect the special provisions under Article 371(A) of the Constitution, besides promoting women's rights.
"I wish to put or record that NPF will uphold the inherent rights of the Nagas and provision of Article 371(A) and at the same time we will promote and propagate women's rights," party Spokesperson Achumbemo Kikon said in a statement.
Referring to the recent proposed elections to urban local bodies with 33 per cent reservation for women, Kikon said the Naga people and civil society should be reasonable as following their mounting pressure Chief Minister T R Zeliang quit his post for peace to prevail.

"On the part of the government and the party, we thought we would protect the sanctity of Article 371(A) and keeping that in mind the election was announced. However, following pressure from the civil society, the government declared the process of election as null and void," he said.
Stating that in the past the civil society used to say that underground activists should not threaten people, he said the recent movement of the civil society was more violent than the underground groups and it should be discouraged.
"The custom and tradition are our identity and protected, but our custom and tradition should not remain static but change with times," he said.

Kikon said that with the installation of the new government by the same party, the principles and objectives of the government and party remained the same as it was just a change of guard.
"The CM and his team will continue to make all efforts, specially the priorities in the Naga peace process," he said.
He said NPF would work for the unity and integrity of the Naga people by bringing all contiguous Naga inhabited areas under one administrative roof and also to provide protection to all ethnic groups who are indigenous inhabitants of Naga areas.