DIMAPUR, AUGUST 2 (MExN): Marking five years since the signing of the Framework Agreement between the NSCN (IM) and the Government of India, the NSCN (IM) today stated that it has been “five long years of waiting” and asserted that what was agreed to in the agreement should be upheld.
A press release from the MIP of the NSCN (IM) detailed the circumstances surrounding the signing of the agreement on August 3, 2015. It however regretted that after five years, the agreement has been put in cold storage. It said that “something unthinkable emanating from the Raj Bhawan in Kohima has taken over the scene.”
The NSCN (IM) stated that the “ulterior motive behind such move has forced the Nagas to point fingers against” Nagaland Governor and the Government of India’s Interlocutor to the peace talks, RN Ravi.
“As seen in the verbal tone of RN Ravi, he has upped the ante against the Naga political groups as he brazenly used slanderous terminology like ‘armed gangs,’ ‘underground groups.’ But what has directly pricked the consciousness of the Naga people at large is when Ravi went for the profiling. He made the Nagaland state government to issue Office Memorandum on 7th July, 2020 to all the Administrative Heads of Departments seeking information from employees about their relations with the Naga underground groups. But we put on record that there are no Naga families who are not connected with the Naga political groups in one way or the other,” the NSCN (IM) stated.
It further accused the Nagaland Governor of being “deceptive” in his handling of the Framework Agreement “as he deceitfully went beyond the call of interlocutor to indulge himself in playing divisive game among the Nagas to dismantle the very foundation of FA.”
“This has, therefore, created a huge trust deficit on the Government of India. The way forward with regard to the fate of FA is now faced with deep ambivalence,” it stated. The NSCN (IM) said that the Government of India must undo the environment of mistrust being built over the time “because it should not take recourse to unethical means to circumvent any conceived obstacles.”
It pointed out the concluding remark of the Framework Agreement as stating: “It is a matter of great satisfaction that dialogue between the Government of India and the NSCN has successfully concluded and we are confident it will provide for an enduring new relationship of peaceful co-existence of the two entities. The two sides agreed that within this Framework Agreement details and execution plan will be worked out and implemented shortly”.
The NSCN (IM) said that what has been mutually agreed upon should be honored in letter and spirit, adding “that is the only way forward.”
