E-Paper
NSCN (IM) alleges Centre of trying to rush Naga peace talks; reaffirms stand
Besides the NSCN (IM), which has been in a ceasefire agreement with the Centre since 1997, the Government of India is also in talks with a conglomeration of seven Naga national political groups (NNPGs) with whom it had signed “Agreed Position” in 2017.
The Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN-IM), with whom the Government of India signed the Framework Agreement in 2015 to pursue a solution to the decades-old Naga political issue, has accused the latter of trying to rush the peace talks by offering post-solution options.
In a fresh statement, the NSCN (IM) said the huge burden of the Naga political issue, which the Government of India is struggling to unload, is not the making of the Naga people rather deeply rooted in “India’s malicious pleasure violating the historical and political rights of the Naga people for more than six decades”.
In the present context, the outfit alleged that Centre was planting “made in India collaborators” to confuse the Nagas with high-sounding promises without political commitment to fulfil as was done in the past. The NSCN (IM) is, however, no longer naive enough to be carried away by such outrageous flattery, the statement said.
“The checkered history of the Indo-Naga political issue is clear enough before us, with accords and agreements that were never meant to be implemented in letter and spirit. Naturally, the Nagas are still haunted by this flamboyant show of dealing on the Naga issue,” the NSCN (IM) maintained.
“NSCN’s stand is loud and clear that it would not follow the forbidden route to the Naga solution that is linked to foregoing the Naga national flag and constitution which is the face of the Naga political struggle and identity,” the NSCN (IM) asserted.
Besides the NSCN (IM), which has been in a ceasefire agreement with the Centre since 1997, the Government of India is also in talks with a conglomeration of seven Naga national political groups (NNPGs) with whom it had signed “Agreed Position” in 2017. Although the NSCN (IM) did not take any names, its statement was issued close on the heels of the statement made by the NNPGs working committee convener N Kitovi Zhimomi who said the Naga flag’s unrestrained political usage and Naga integration would be pursued democratically post-solution.
People familiar with the matter said that the leaders of the NNPGs, the NSCN (IM) and the Niki Sumi-led Khaplang faction of NSCN (NSCN-K) were all in Delhi recently, holding separate meetings with the Centre’s new emissary for Naga peace talks AK Mishra.
