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KOHIMA: The Isak-Muivah-led National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN-IM) has reiterated its firm stand that the ongoing Naga peace process cannot be resolved without the Naga flag and constitution.
The decades-old Naga political issue has been going on unresolved even after 25 years of ceasefire between the Centre and the NSCN (IM) and many rounds of dialogue that followed. All the 60 MLAs in Nagaland came together in September 2021 to form an opposition-less United Democratic Alliance (UDA) government with the objective to give a “final push” to the negotiating parties and to bring an acceptable solution to the vexed Indo-Naga issue.
“The ongoing Indo-Naga political talks that has entered a critical stage is being watched with much curiosity by the people around the world because it matters how the Naga people rise up to the occasion to defend their political identity as symbolised by the Naga national flag and the constitution (Yehzabo). We cannot afford to waver at this crucial stage. We have to take our stand no matter what the heat of the pressure that may come,” NSCN (IM) chairman Q Tuccu said on Thursday.
According to a statement issued by the group, the chairman has called upon the NSCN (IM) members to exercise “revolutionary responsibility to forbear any hardship,” and display fortitude to carry on with their political struggle.
UDA chairman and former chief minister TR Zeliang said that the state’s lawmakers’ panel, the core committee on Naga political issue, will be meeting union home minister Amit Shah in Delhi after the current session concludes, to ascertain the latest position of the government of India on the peace process.
“After that, we want to meet NSCN (IM) to hammer out the differences and arrive at a meeting point with an amicable settlement. Otherwise, if we keep on like this, then we are surely going to meet a deadlock in this negotiation,” Zeliang said.
He maintained that the contentious issues – flag and constitution- should be amicably settled. Pointing out that the sole reason his party, the Naga People’s Front, joined the government to facilitate an early settlement to the Naga political issue, Zeliang called upon all not to misinterpret or misunderstand the intent of the legislators.
Chief minister Neiphiu Rio also confirmed that the Naga legislators will soon be meeting officials of the government of India and also the Naga political groups to “know their actual mind”.
Besides signing the Framework Agreement with the NSCN (IM) on August 3, 2015, the Centre had also inked the “Agreed Position” with a conglomeration of seven Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs) on November 17, 2017 after the then interlocutor for Naga peace talks RN Ravi started parallel talks with the latter.
On Thursday, UDA chairman Zeliang said in the state assembly that having two agreements and holding parallel talks for one Naga political issue had put a deadlock on resolving the issue. He said both the Centre’s interlocutor Ravi and Naga negotiating groups had claimed that talks concluded on October 31, 2019 while Ravi and NSCN (IM) had a mutual understanding that they would revisit the competency clauses.
Zeliang said that a deadlock was created when Ravi later rejected NSCN (IM)’s firm stand for a separate flag and constitution saying these were outside the purview of the agreement.
Underscoring the need for an early settlement, Zeliang said that Nagaland can march towards development, economically and politically, along with the rest of the world, only when the government of India and Naga negotiating groups agree to come together at a meeting point for an amicable solution.
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