KOHIMA (NAGALAND): Before the English band Smokie could set the mood in Nagaland, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wowed the people of the state by inaugurating the 10-day long annual Hornbill festival in Nagaland on Monday, becoming the first Prime Minister to inaugurate a tribal exposition in Nagaland where most of the people are Christians.
In the last two days, Modi attended two tribal festivals — Shanghai festival in Manipur on Sunday, and now the Hornbill festival, which coincides with Nagaland’s 51st statehood day. Dressed in traditional attire, Modi played to the galleries when said “Kukna Lim”, meaning Victory to Nagaland, amidst rapturous applause from the audience. Interestingly, Modi decided to completely bypass the decade-old Naga insurgency problem, and used the occasion to announce many big-ticket schemes.
Speaking in English to a jampacked crowd, Modi said “the rest of India has SEZs (Special Economic Zones), but the North-East region is full of NEZs (Natural Economic Zones)”. “In other parts of India, you will find SEZs— they are manmade. Here, it is NEZ. But it is untapped.
It is my priority to tap this NEZ for the North-East.” The PM then went on to explain his development format. “We have decided to take up Ishan Uday (Northeast Rise)—a special scholarship for North-East students which will benefit 10,000 students and an internship scheme at IITs and NITs for 2,000 students and 500 teachers from the North-East every year.
Nagaland chief minister TR Zeliang, however, requested Modi to expedite talks for an early resolution to the six-decade old Naga poltical problem.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet