NSCN says counter-insurgency ops will have ‘disastrous consequences’

The Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM) – the largest Naga rebel group which is currently in the final stages of peace talks with the Central government - has criticised the counter-insurgency operations against its cadres in Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh and warned of “disastrous consequences” for both sides.

It said the intensified operations against it has come as a rude shock. In a statement on Tuesday, it asserted that the Central government should handle the situation with great sensitivity and not prod its security forces to run amok against the NSCN.

“In such a situation NSCN members cannot allow themselves to be sitting ducks. Our patience should not be translated as weak and helpless,” the NSCN (IM) said in a statement on Tuesday. “The consequences would be disastrous for both the parties.”

The ceasefire with the NSCN (IM) does not apply to Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.

The NSCN (IM)’s statement came on a day when chief of army staff General Manoj Mukund Naravane arrived in Kohima as part of his three-day visit to various formations under the army’s Eastern Command to review security and operational preparedness.

The rebel group is of the view that the 1997 Indo-Naga ceasefire was signed with high hope for both the negotiating parties but ironically, when it came to jurisdiction of ceasefire, the government of India continues to speak in “ambivalent terms” even after 23 years of political talks.

“Naga political issue cannot be undermined in such a manner that contradict the well-established historical and political rights of the Naga people spread across Nagaland, Manipur, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Myanmar,” it said.

It maintained that the political rights of the Naga people is no longer an issue that needed any review as the signing of the Framework Agreement on the August 3, 2015 is a “living document” to take the government of India and NSCN (IM) through for the final solution.

The group alleged that the Centre continued to waver when it only needed to exercise is its political will for a final deal.

“This is a sign of weakness and insincerity,” it said.

Maintaining that the framework agreement was symbolic of the Naga people’s desire to co-exist peacefully with India, the NSCN-IM claimed it has not been reciprocated with the correct political steps.

“The Naga people’s sincere approach and search for permanent peace has been touted time and again to suit India’s colonial divide and rule policy. This is evidently seen in the ongoing Indo-Naga political talks,” it stated.

It also said that the Naga people believed in a solution based on mutual respect of one another’s position, not in forced union bereft of political wisdom.