NTC highlights issues over oil exploration agreement between CM Rio and CM Sarma

Dimapur, 1 May (MTNews): The Nagaland Tribes Council has expressed concern over the news report that the Chief Ministers of Nagaland and Assam have agreed in principle to go for oil exploration in the disputed border areas between the two states. NTC termed the disputed areas as “the dubious border line of the two sisterly states.”

In a press release, the Nagaland Tribes Council said that it held a meeting on 25 April in Dimapur and deliberated on the proposed oil exploration.

According to the council, the huge mineral deposits and resources that Nagaland is endowed with could not be “explicitly explored and earn from our own internal resources towards self-sufficiency” because of reasons such as the “boundary and border problems on the Assam side.”

“Nagaland always remains peaceful on the border but it is the counterpart Assam that always disputes Nagaland with artificial boundary line and continues to annex towards Naga land,” the council claimed, adding that as per the 1875 boundary demarcation of Naga Hills District of Assam, “the historical and traditional/ancestral boundary of Nagaland is far beyond the present claim of Assam” and, therefore, the council believes that it needs to be reclaimed immediately.

In this connection, the council stated that the 12th point of the 16-Point Agreement of 1960 may be drawn for reference which they quoted as, “The Naga delegation discussed the question of the inclusion of the Reserved Forests and of contiguous areas inhabited by Nagas. They were referred to the provisions in Article 3 and 4 of the Constitution, prescribing the procedure for the transfer of areas from one state to another.”

NTC claimed that reserved forest means the Naga reserved forest transferred to Assam for administrative convenience. “Agreement between GoI and the Naga people of Nagaland is Agreement,” the council maintained.

According to the council, the historical records and the hard earned 16-Point Agreement of 1960 has remained in cold storage for the last 60 years and opined that once it is resolved, Nagaland can “conveniently go for exploration of natural resources including oil without any hindrance.” “There cannot be a state without definite territory of land,” it added.

The second major hurdle, according to the council, is the “defective” Nagaland Petroleum & Natural Gas Regulations, 2012 and Nagaland Petroleum & Natural Gas Rules, 2012 (NP&NG).

The council pointed out that in these Regulations and Rules, “the rights, privileges and revenue sharing for the beneficiaries, including that of employment of the affected landowner/areas and block have been deprived off.”

According to the council, the government failed to listen to the cry of the people for ‘rectification’ of those regulations and rules and, therefore, the Lotha Hoho, who were the first to get affected by it ended up filing a PIL in the Gauhati High Court, Kohima Bench.

“The government of Nagaland persuaded the Lotha Hoho to withdraw the PIL and then signed MoU on 20th November 2018 on the condition that the grievances as expressed by the Lotha Hoho would be amended within six months. After that it became a Suo Moto case in the honourable Gauhati High Court, Kohima Bench but lying unresolved till today,” the council stated.

The council opined that it would be better for the state government to pursue the suo moto case in the High Court before any other ultra-vires comes in, finalize the case and amend the defective regulation and rules “before any wishful thinking for Oil Exploration.”

The council, while appreciating the State Government for maintaining good relations and understanding with the neighboring states, pointed out that “the state government of Nagaland is not subordinate to any other state government in the country including Assam. So also is the Chief Minister of Nagaland.”

The NTC said that it is a reason to be pondered upon as to why the Chief Minister of Nagaland rushed to the Chief Minister of Assam and “have agreed in principle to go ahead with oil exploration in areas along their disputed boundaries…” without the consent of the stakeholders “thus confirming as disputed border area ourselves.”

According to the council, there always is a mechanism to resolve differences of all issues grounded on the principle, “in every problem there is a solution and it starts from the grassroots” provided the government takes care of the welfare of the state in general and the people in particular and live in understanding so that peaceful atmosphere prevails.