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24 March 2023

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Nagaland Post www.nagalandpost.com

Vol XXXIII No. 106

WWBC: Nitu, Nikhat in finals SPORTS, PAGE 12

DIMAPUR, FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2023 Pages 12 ` 5.00

Anger at Macron mounts as French unions hold new protests

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Rahul Gandhi convicted in defamation case SENTENCED TO 2-YEAR JAIL TERM; CONGRESS TO APPEAL IN HIGHER COURT

SURAT/NEW DELHI, MAR 23 (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was on Thursday sentenced to two years in jail by a Surat court in a 2019 criminal defamation case over his “Modi surname” remark, in a setback to the Lok Sabha MP who faces the risk of disqualification. The court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Surat HH Varma, which held 52-year-old Gandhi guilty under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 499 and 500, also granted him bail and suspended the sentence for 30 days to allow him to appeal in a higher court. Gandhi can escape immediate disqualification as a member of parliament if the appellate court suspends the conviction as well as the two-year jail term. Gandhi could have limited his speech to Prime

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi arrives at Surat District Court for hearing in Surat, Thursday. (PTI)

Minister Narendra Modi, Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya, Mehul Choksi, and Anil Ambani, but he “intentionally” made a statement that hurt individuals carrying the Modi surname, and thereby committed criminal defamation, the court said in its 168-page order. Gandhi was present in the court when the verdict was pronounced.

Senior Congress leaders went into a huddle at its chief Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence in Delhi in the evening to discuss the future strategy and the political fallout for the party in the wake of the verdict. Sources said a petition to challenge the order is being prepared and will be filed in a District and Sessions court.

In its order, the court noted that the seriousness of the accused’s crime increased because a speech delivered by a member of parliament has a “very wide impact on the public.” “And if the accused is given less punishment, then it sends a wrong message to the public and the purpose of defamation is not fulfilled and anybody will easily slander someone.” The defamation case was filed against Gandhi for his alleged remarks “How come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?” on a complaint lodged by BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi. According to the Representation of the People Act, a person sentenced to imprisonment of two years or more shall be disqualified “from the date of such conviction” and remain

disqualified for another six years after serving time. Sources said after going through the judgment, the Lok Sabha Secretariat will take a call on issuing a notification announcing a vacancy in the lower house. Parliamentary Affairs minister Pralhad Joshi said legal experts will examine the verdict and only after that the government will take a decision on the next step. As opposition parties, notably the AAP, as well as the DMK and the JMM rallied behind Gandhi, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi dubbed the verdict as “infirm, erroneous and an unsustainable” that will be immediately challenged in a higher court. “We believe that this is full of errors and legally unsustainable conclusions,” he told reporters in Delhi. (Read more on p-5)

CM tables two LS passes `45 lakh cr Budget without debate Bills in NLA NEW DELHI, MAR 23 the second leg of the Budget ing. Birla applied guillotine Sabha possibly on Friday.

KOHIMA/DIMAPUR, MAR 23 (NPN/PTI): On the third day of the ongoing 14 Nagaland Legislative Assembly session, chief minister Neiphiu Rio introduced two bills-- the Nagaland Goods and Services Tax (Sixth Amendment) Bill, 2022 and the Nagaland Fire & Emergency Services Bill (NF&ESB), 2021. The NF&ESB was moved in the house seeking to regulate and operate fire and life safety measures in the state. The Nagaland Goods and Services Tax (Sixth Amendment) Bill was introduced to make the law in sync with the central legislation. As the House agreed to introduce the two Bills, NLA speaker Sharingain Longkumer said that consideration and passing of the bills would be taken up on March 27.

Continued rainfall in Nagaland likely

DIMAPUR, MAR 23 (NPN): Nagaland State Disaster Management Authority (NSDMA) has informed that Nagaland would experience light to heavy rainfall in the coming days. NSDMA joint chief executive officer Johnny Ruangmei stated that there could be partly cloudy moderate rain during March 26 & 27, 2023 all over the state. However, thunderstorm accompanied with lightning and gusty winds was very likely to occur in certain pockets in Peren, Dimapur, Kohima, Wokha, Mokokchung, Mon and Longleng during this period.

This is it!

“It could be a long wait to join the government even though we have offered total support.” K Y M C

(PTI): Lok Sabha on Thursday approved the Union Budget envisaging an expenditure of around Rs 45 lakh crore for the fiscal year starting April 1 without any discussion, as the Opposition continued to create ruckus over demand for a JPC probe into allegations against the Adani Group. T h e L owe r H o u s e of Parliament took up the Demands for Grants and Appropriation Bills after two adjournments as the ruling and Opposition MPs engaged in a matching duet over demands for an apology by Rahul Gandhi and the Adani issue. Most of

Session has been washed out due to the protest by both sides and it was one of the rare occasions when the Budget was passed without any discussion. Soon after the Lok Sabha reassembled at 6 pm after two adjournments, Speaker Om Birla put the Opposition’s cut motion or amendments to the government spending plan to vote which was rejected by voice vote. This was followed by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharman moving the demands for grants for 2023-24 and relevant Appropriation Bills for discussion and vot-

and put demands for grants of all ministries for voting. The demands were passed as the Opposition MPs trooped into the Well of the House shouting slogans. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present during the passage of Budget for 2023-24. The entire exercise was over in 12 minutes completing two-third of the parliamentary approval for the Budget for 2023-24. The Finance Bill 2023, which contains tax proposals that Sitharaman had moved while presenting the Budget on February 1, will now be taken up by the Lok

All the budget-related bills will be transmitted to Rajya Sabha, which cannot make any changes but only return them to the Lok Sabha after discussion as they are classified as ‘money bills’ requiring approval of the Lower House only. The current Parliament session is scheduled to end on April 6. There is speculation that the duration of the session may be curtailed after completion of the budgetary exercise. Unlike the past, the Lok Sabha this time did not discuss the Demands for Grants of the identified ministries.

INTERNATIONAL, PAGE 9

Every Naga a stakeholder for securing Naga solution: Rio Correspondent

KO H I M A , M A R 2 3 (NPN): Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio reiterated that the Naga political issue was not the private property or domain of any party, organisation or individual and that every Naga was a direct stakeholder in the quest for genuine peace and an honourable solution. He also informed the house that the BJP high command welcomed the support extended to the PDA-II government as the coming together of all parties including independents would help in reaching higher levels of development, progress and achieving early solution to the Naga political issue. Rio said this while reacting to the speech made earlier by NPF legislator Azo Neinu who was speaking on the motion of thanks to governor’s address on the third day of the first session of 14th Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA) Thursday. Azo had earlier claimed, that his party (NPF) has been championing the Naga political issue. Rio in response said that to claim that only one party was the champion of Naga political issue was totally unreasonable and far from the reality in the present situation. He reminded the House that every Naga family across all Naga-inhabited areas had made sacrifices and contributed to the Nag movement over generations. He pointed out that the movement had reached thus far due to contributions of all sections of the people. Rio repeated that since political negotiations were ongoing at the highest level,

The third day of the first session of the 14th NLA in progress at NLA Secretariat, Kohima on Thursday. (DIPR)

any party trying to claim to be the sole champion for Naga issue was unacceptable and disrespectful to all Nagas across generations. He said the contribution and sacrifices of past leaders and political parties were acknowledged and not denied, but for anyone to claim that oly one party had made contribution and was the only champion was unreasonable. “Let us not make political rhetoric and play to galleries, but rather let us be practical, realistic and honest and work collectively,” Rio exhorted the members, adding that the right message of oneness should be sent out so that other sections also took the lead and forged unity. He cautioned that to say that only one party was the champion would create mistrust, disunity and would be ridiculed by the public, while urging everyone not to undermine the wisdom of citizens. Rio also slammed Azo for alleging that the huge turnout of electorate and their full participation in the recently concluded assembly election, was due to use of money power. He advised Azo to be cautious while making any statement. He reminded elected members not to undermine

the mandate of the people since the electorate have spoken through the mandate. However, to say that money power alone was the determining factor was disrespectful to the citizens, including the voters who had “voted for you also”, he told Azo. He urged all MLAs not to undermine the wisdom and intelligence of people, but rather self-introspect and try to understand the dynamics of electoral results. “Let us not make blanket statements that paint our State and our citizens in poor light,” Rio said as he appealed to members to show respect towards one another and if they felt humbled for being re-elected, then they should respect the mandate of the masses. BJP readily accepted all-party govt: To the statement by Azo about the status of the letter of support extended to the ruling coalition, Rio said he welcomed the support extended to his government by NPF and all the parties, including the Independents. He disclosed that he spoken to BJP high command and it had agreed “heartily” to support his government on the matter and exuded confidence that coming together of all political parties in support (Cont’d on p-5)

ULB polls: NCD for consultative meet Debate on motion of thanks to Gov’s address DIMAPUR, MAR 23 (NPN): Naga Council Dimapur (NCD) has appealed to the state government to convene a consultative meeting inviting all stakeholders and settle the issue once and for all so as to hold elections to the urban local bodies in time as notified. NCD president Etsungmomo Kikon, vice president Holuto Aye and general secretary LK Anal Peter affirmed support to the resolutions adopted by Dimapur Urban Council Chairman Federation, Association of Kohima Municipal Ward Panchayat, All Ward Union Mokokchung Town and town councils of various

districts on March 21 on the amendment of Nagaland Municipal Act, 2001. NCD said that the three bodies have already submitted a representation to the state government demanding review of NMA 2001, which it maintained was the demand and the voice of the Nagas. However, NCD stated that in spite of sincere attempts made by various local and tribal bodies “to protect and safeguard the rights of the Nagas’ as enshrined in Article 371(A), the issue of amendment of NMA 2001 with regard to tax on land and buildings had not been resolved.

NCD cautioned that the issue was now “becoming very sensitive and emotional which may reoccur situations as in the past.”

JCC convenes meet

Joint Co-ordination Committee (JCC) on ULB has convened an emergency meeting at NCD conference hall on March 25 at 2 pm with the Dimapur-based tribal hohos, union and organizations along with NCD, DUCCF and GB Union Dimapur to discuss on ULB issue. All JCC executive members and hohos/union/organization president and secretary have been requested to attend the crucial meeting.

Correspondent

KO H I M A , M A R 2 3 (NPN): Several members took part in the debate on motion of thanks to the Governor’s address on the third day of the first session of the 14th Nagaland Legislative Assembly. Initiating the discussion on the motion of thanks to the governor’s address, NPF legislator Azo Nienu highlighted the need to bring out strong policies to deal with impending problems, including illegal immigrants and Inner Line Permit (ILP). He cautioned that at the current trend of illegal immigrants flocking into Chü-

moukedima, Dimapur and surrounding areas, Nagaland was soon going to become the next Tripura. On Naga political issue, Azo said he was ashamed of bringing up this issue every time and suggested that a joint legislators’ forum be constituted to pursue the Naga issue. He insisted that the Naga issue should be brought to a logical conclusion within a year’s time and legislators should vacate their seats to make way for an interim government to take over if an acceptable, honourable and inclusive agreement was arrived at. Azo also accused the Home department of not

doing any policing work because most of the State’s forces were deployed in static and VIP duties. He said even when principal secretary, commissioner & secretary, etc, were not entitled to personal bodyguards, some party workers were roaming around with such guards. He strongly recommended that this culture should be discontinued and the police should be left to do their assigned job.He said out of the 26,000 police personnel, 19,000 were armed. Although there were times in the past when armed police were needed for law and order, he noted

that times had since changed and therefore there should be restructuring and reorganising of the force with more focus on cybercrime, forensics, etc. He also suggested Home minister Patton to champion the cause of making all new appointments through open recruitment. Joining the discussion, NPF legislator Achumbemo Kikon highlighted the mananimal conflict in areas under his 40 Bhandari constituency. He called for resolving the issue with some long-term policies in order to prevent such cases from recurring again. (Cont’d on p-7)

CNTC, Lotha Hoho demand rectification of NMA 2001 AR clarify on March 23 incident DIMAPUR, MAR 23 (NPN): Central Nagaland Tribes Council (CNTC) and Lotha Hoho have asked the government to resolve/rectify the Nagaland Municipal Act (NMA) 2001. In a press release, CNTC joint secretary (general) C Onen Walling said the council resolved that until the present NMA 2001 articles and provisions, which infringed Article 371(A), were duly re-amended or rectified, the council “will not compromise with the said Act.” It said that the resolution was adopted at CNTC executive meeting held at Tourist Lodge, Dimapur on

March 17, 2023. The meeting, which deliberated on ULB election issue, also resolved that CNTC was not satisfied with the NMA 2001, and reamendment done in 2016. Regarding ULB election, CNTC said that three of Apex Hohos heads—Ao Senden president, Lotha Hoho chairman and Sumu Hoho president—have clearly deliberated their respective stand on the issue. Meanwhile, the meeting, which also discussed fixation of date for forthcoming CNTC conference, resolved to authorize CNTC office bearers and Ao Senden (conference host) to

work out the date and conference programme after confirmation of ULB election issue. CNTC also reminded all three hohos to send members of new team to CNTC executives on or before March 31, 2023. LOTHA HOHO: Lotha Hoho at a meeting with its frontal organisations on March 23, 2023 has resolved to demand “rewriting” the Nagaland Municipal Act (NMA) 2001 before conducting any ULB election. In a press release, LH chairman Er. Mhondamo Ovung and general secretary S Abenthung Ngullie sought to clarify that Lotha public

were neither against any ULB election nor against payment of relevant tax. Pointing out that Article 371(A) does not explicitly say anything on Women Reservation, LH has, however, said that among the various provisions it clearly states to safeguard the “(i) Religious or Social practices of the Nagas” and “(ii) Naga Customary laws and Procedures” etc. Therefore, the hoho said that Women Reservation clearly infringes on the provisions of Article 371A (1) (a) (ii) and (iii). However, LH said that with changing times, the Consensus decision of the Nagas could be taken on

DIMAPUR, MAR 23 (NPN): Assam Rifles have clarified on the incident that occurred near NSCN (Khango) office area at Thilixu on March 23, 2023. In a press statement, PRO (Defence) stated that after receiving inputs regarding shifting of NSCN (Khango) cadres from ceasefire office Thilixu Block I to Block V, the Assam Rifle with police personnel established vehicle check post near NSCN (Khango) office area in order to prevent inter factional clashes and to ensure the security of the civil population. (Cont’d on p-8) PRO stated that at

Women Reservation, if it was for the common good of the Nagas. The hoho said it was also aware that without tax payment by the people, no government can run or survive. Therefore, LH said that the tax, which was relevant and feasible to the reality of Nagas of Nagaland, could be worked out. “Hence the provisions on Taxation, in the existing Municipal Act 2001, are to be rectified in such ways that the Mode of taxation is within the ambit and circumstances of Nagaland under the constitutional provisions for the Nagas,” LH stated.

around 12:30 pm, the check post intercepted a passenger vehicle that tried to escape and entered a Church Compound. PRO said that one “brig.” Phueka with two cadres was found in the vehicle. Later, PRO said Chümoukedima police arrested “brig.” Phueka, but as the crowd was gathering in the area and he was later released. PRO stated that “incidentally” an FIR has already been registered by police in Diphupar PS against “brig.” Phueka who escaped from a vehicle check post on March 4, 2023. K Y M C


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24 March 2023 by Nagaland Post - Issuu