Kohima, February 16 (MExN): Chairperson of the Cease Fire Monitoring Group (CFMG), Lt. Gen (Retd) NK Singh, has stated that accusations made against him by the NSCN (IM) at a press briefing in Dimapur on February 10 are “baseless.”
In a press release, Singh today found it “amazing and ironical” that the NSCN (IM) is “accusing” the Chairperson of “sabotaging and derailing” the peace process between the Government of India (GoI) and the NSCN (IM) when he is “in no way involved in the talks at the highest levels in New Delhi.”
Singh found NSCN (IM)’s statement that the “chairman is a trouble creator” as “unfortunate and misplaced” because “whenever some trouble (violation of Cease Fire Ground Rules) occurred the Chairman had to take cognisance of it and take appropriate action. And this would have created some discomfort for the perpetrators of the trouble/violation, but it is not the Chairman who created the trouble in the first instance.” Singh was only following the mandate given to the Chairperson as per the Cease Fire agreement, he asserted.
Maintaining that NK Singh’s only “motive and desire” is to “see genuine peace and good law & order in Nagaland,” where “common people” live “free from the fear of the gun, and a security environment conducive to encouraging increased economic activities and local employment,” Singh appealed to the NSCN (IM) to “abide by and honour the Cease Fire Ground Rules (CFGR) in letter and spirit.”
NK Singh further asserted that pointing out CFGR violations “cannot be construed as obstructionist and hostile.” Clarifying on the Mon stand-off, the CFMG Chairperson stated that it had started on February 7, “whereas it was only on Feb 8 that the Chairman was informed and came into the picture while he was out of Nagaland for a few weeks.”
Singh stated that he was informed only on February 8 by Convenor of CFGM (GoI) about “NSCN (IM) having set up a camp at Neitong (Mon district) comprising 6-7 thatched huts and about 30 cadres.”
The Chairperson then stated that he conveyed to the NSCN (IM) that “since the camp was not in the current list of designated camps it must be vacated by the NSCN (IM).” He termed as “misleading” the statement of the Convenor CFMC of NSCN (IM) that the camp was approved in 2004.
“Quite far away from Neitong a camp had been proposed in Nokyan in 2004 but was not occupied, and subsequently cancelled/denotified in July 2010, almost six years ago. NSCN (lM) would be well aware of this because a copy of the denotification letter was endorsed to NSCN (IM) also in July 2010. Its recent setting up of unauthorised camp at Neitong and concentrating armed cadres there was obviously a violation of the CFGRs which is why NSCN (IM) was asked to vacate the said camp,” reiterated NK Singh.
Finding “totally baseless” the accusation that “frisking and raids on residences” of members of the NSCN (IM) by the Assam Rifles were ordered by Singh, the CFMG Chairperson clarified that “Such actions are undertaken by the forces based on their own inputs and Chairman CFMG has not ordered a single one of them, neither does his mandate permit him to do so.”
While NK Singh clarified on several other matters, including Beisumpuikam and the Rs. 3 lakhs seized in Dhasiripar area, he maintained that there is “nothing extraordinary” if CFMG Chairperson corresponds with the GoI “which is one of the signatories to the Cease Fire agreement.”
