UPA lacks political will to solve Naga issue: Rio

Shillong, March 15 (IANS) Terming the Congress as a "communal party" for shielding certain communities, Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio Saturday also accused the UPA government of lacking political will to resolve the six-decade-old separatist movement in his state.

"There is no political will with the UPA to resolve the Naga issue and the government interculotor (R.S. Pandey) has moved out as the political leadership in the country has not been able to take a decision to resolve it," Rio told journalists.

New Delhi and the separatist National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah) entered into a ceasefire agreement in August 1997. The two have held more than 50 rounds of talks to end the insurgency that has led to the death of 25,000 people since 1947.

Rio, however, said he was confident that the issue will be resolved once the Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance comes to power at the centre.

"BJP president Rajnath Singh told me that the party has adopted a resolution at a meeting to solve the Naga political issue once the NDA comes to power," he said.

Rio also described the Congress as a communal party for shielding "certain communities".

"The BJP has been termed as Hindutva and communal. What about the Congress? They are also giving undue protection to certain communities which is also communal," he said.

Citing the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi, he said: "In Gujarat, Hindus died, Muslims died, police died, but in Delhi except Sikhs, nobody died. Not even a single policeman was injured because they were not out to protect. So the difference between the two is very clear."