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Journalism of Courage
As bizarre as the situation in Nagaland appears to be, that is no reason to treat the outcome of the Assembly elections there as anything other than proper and correct as long as the rest of the process is conducted in a peaceful atmosphere.
It emerges that there are no rivals for the Congress candidates in 40 of the total 60 seats. Four days short of final withdrawal of nomination papers, independents were standing in the other 20 seats and unless they too are prevailed upon to withdraw, there will be a contest in one-third of the Assembly constituencies. From the voter8217;s point of view, it is most unfortunate that the choice is limited in such a large proportion of the seats to one and elsewhere to two or three. All the regional parties have decided not to contest the polls under the mistaken impression that such a course of action will hasten the so-called peace process set in motion by the Centre8217;s stated inclination to hold talks with the Issac-Muviah faction of the National Socialist Council ofNagaland NSCN.
The NSCN8217;s tactics are obvious and ought to be defeated. Having at long last received tacit recognition of its political importance from the Centre which is what thepossibility of talks implies the NSCN proposes to guard its status by denying any kind of legitimacy to any other organisation. This is quite wrong and the abstaining political parties should know it. One of the major hazards of talking to extremists is precisely the situation that has arisen in Nagaland. Outfits banned or excluded because of their use of violent methods tend to gain clout at the expense of elected representatives once the process of negotiations begins. True, the NSCN phenomenon cannot be explained without reference to unattended popular grievances over a long period of time and the failure of the political class to resolve them. But after all is said and done, it is not only the ends that matter; the means to those ends matter very much too. That is why it is essential to carry on with the polls even under these aberrant conditions. The people of Nagaland and Manipur must know that there is no alternative in the short or long term to elections and that the Election Commission intends tocomplete the process and to ensure that peace will prevail during polling.
