E-Paper
Nagaland CM, MLAs urge Centre to ink peace pact by Independence Day
Calling for expediting the Naga peace process, Nagaland's deputy chief minister Y Patton reportedly said it would not be possible for any elected legislator to step down within six months or one year once the Nagaland Assembly elections, scheduled for early next year, took place.
A delegation of Nagaland legislators that met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah in New Delhi last week had urged the central leaders to expedite the Naga peace talks and make an announcement regarding the same during the Independence Day celebrations this year, state’s deputy chief minister Y Patton has said.
Patton, who was part of the delegation, led by chief minister Neiphiu Rio, made the revelation while speaking at an event in Dimapur on Tuesday, as reported by local media.
“Patton claimed that the Prime Minister and home minister were urged to expedite the Naga political settlement and that a Central leader should visit the State on this year’s Independence Day celebrations to make the announcement that the issue had been resolved,” stated a report published in Nagaland Post, a local English daily.
Calling for expediting the Naga peace process, Patton reportedly said it would not be possible for any elected legislator to step down within six months or one year once the Nagaland Assembly elections, scheduled for early next year, took place.
There is a standing resolution of the state legislature that as and when a peaceful solution to the protracted Naga political issue is arrived, all elected members would step down from their positions for any alternative arrangement.
Calls made to the deputy CM’s office for a comment went unanswered.
Patton’s statement comes in the backdrop of the arrival of Centre’s emissary for the Naga peace talks, AK Mishra, to Nagaland. Mishra has informally sat with top leaders of various groups on Tuesday and Wednesday, including the Isak-Muivah led National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN-IM) with which the Centre had signed the Framework Agreement in 2015.
A series of formal meetings is scheduled to be held from April 21 onwards, people familiar with the matter said, adding that Mishra would also meet the working committee of the Naga national political groups (NNPGs) on Thursday, followed by a formal meeting with the NSCN (IM) on April 22. Thereafter, he would meet a panel of state lawmakers formed to press for an early settlement of the vexed Naga political issue, the people cited above said, requesting anonymity. The NNPGs also signed an agreement with the government of India in 2017 called the “Agreed Position”.
Meanwhile, the Centre has extended ceasefire agreements with three different factions of the NSCN for a period of one year each. “Ceasefire Agreements are in operation between the Government of India and NSCN (NK), NSCN (R) and NSCN/(Khango),” an official bulletin stated on Wednesday.
