KOHIMA, Dec 30 - The signing of a peace accord between the Centre and NSCN-IM brought a ray of hope for an early resolution of the decades-old Naga political issue among the people of Nagaland in 2015.
The year also saw a lot of drama on the political front besides lynching of a man accused of rape in Dimapur town that brought to the fore the dark side of vigilante justice.
The year commenced with a political drama within the ruling Naga People�s Front (NPF) Government as 21 of the then 38 NPF legislators formed a dissident group demanding change in leadership.
They elected the then Minister for Industries and Commerce G Kaito Aye as the new leader of NPF Legislature Party while empowering him to form the new government on January 5 leading to a war between the two camps while also taking the issue before the Election Commission for recognition of their own NPF party.
However, refusing to budge, Chief Minister TR Zeliang moved the State Assembly to prove his strength on February 5. He created a record as the entire 60 members of the House, including eight Opposition Congress members voted in his favour.
The internal squabbling of NPF ended with the holding of its special general session in April as the House re-affirmed to stand behind the leadership of NPF President Shurhozelie Liezietsu and Zeliang.
The political drama continued with the induction of the eight Congress MLAs as Cabinet Ministers, Parliamentary Secretaries and Deputy Speaker of the State Assembly.
This was followed by their suspension by the All India Congress Committee. However, the Congress legislators dramatically merged into NPF leaving the 60-member House without any opposition on November 20.
Nagaland attracted global media attention when on March 5, a mob broke into the high-security Dimapur Central Jail, dragged Syed Farid Khan alias Sarifuddin out, stripped him naked, beat him up, pelted him with stones and pulled him towards the centre of the town, seven km away.
They alleged that he had raped a Naga girl on February 23. Khan died of injuries on the way. The mob then hanged his body on the clock tower. Probe into the episode is still on.
The signing of the historic accord in New Delhi in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and NSCN-IM general secretary Th Muivah provided a boost. But with the contents of the accord not made available, the Naga people kept asking for their disclosure for further deliberation before any final settlement is arrived at. � PTI
