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KOHIMA: The Centre’s emissary for the Naga peace talks, AK Mishra on Tuesday visited the headquarters of the Isak-Muivah led National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN-IM) at the designated camp Hebron, near Dimapur city and met the group’s top leaders including general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah.
Mishra, a former additional director of the intelligence bureau (IB) and currently an advisor in the union home ministry, arrived in Nagaland on Monday and will be holding a series of meetings with leaders of different political groups, state political leaders and civil organisations, people familiar with the development said. Formal meetings will commence from April 21 at Chumoukedima.
“We had an informal meeting with Mr. AK Mishra today. He was here for about two hours. He was very positive during his visit,” a senior NSCN (IM) member told HT.
The Naga peace talks got derailed since the contested October 31, 2019 deadline when the then interlocutor RN Ravi and the NSCN (IM) had a fallout over issues pertaining to the 2015 Framework Agreement which was signed between the Centre and the NSCN (IM), and the latter remained firm on its demand for a separate Naga flag and constitution. The group had recently accused Ravi of trying to mislead the Centre and Naga people that talks had concluded on October 31, 2019.
“It was nothing more than an ultimatum given to the NSCN to toe his (Ravi’s) line of Naga solution. As seen today, we have been witnessing the negotiations that are still going on to resolve the core issues without which there is no foreseeable agreement,” the NSCN (IM) said in a statement. It claimed that Ravi tried to pressure the NSCN (IM) to sign the agreement under the Constitution of India without the Naga flag and constitution, the two core issues which continue to stall the inking of a final pact between the Centre and the Naga group.
Ravi, who was also the governor of Nagaland, was transferred to Tamil Nadu in September last year after which he resigned as the interlocutor. AK Mishra was then appointed as Delhi’s emissary and he has been leading parleys with the negotiating parties to bring a settlement to the protracted Naga political issue since last September.
It was learnt that Mishra is scheduled to meet the Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs) on Thursday. The Centre had also signed an ‘Agreed Position’ with the NNPGs in November 2017. The NSCN (IM) in its latest statement had asserted they would not be a part of the NNPGs’ “solution”, maintaining that any solution based on “collaborators” will only pave way for a bigger disaster.
The next few days are expected to signal how the Centre and its emissary are handling the situation to bring a solution to two separate agreements.
A state delegation including chief minister Neiphiu Rio, deputy CM Yanthungo Patton and United Democratic Alliance chairman TR Zeliang recently met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and union home minister Amit Shah to know the position of the Centre on the peace process. State legislators have been appealing to the negotiating parties to bring the peace talks to a logical conclusion by reaching a settlement that is honourable, inclusive and acceptable, at the earliest.
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