Dimapur, February 12 (MExN): The NSCN (IM) today termed the recent letter by some Members of Parliament (MPs) concerning the status of the Naga peace process as a “wake-up call” to the Prime Minister of India to prove his standing on the Naga political issue.
Among others, the 21 Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha MPs from various political parties have urged the Union Home Minister to provide a detailed update in Parliament on the status of the Naga peace process and appoint a full-time interlocutor to revive negotiations.
Expressing gratitude for the “political wisdom” of the MPs in wanting to “know the exact status surrounding the Indo-Naga political talks based on the Framework Agreement,” the NSCN (IM) stated that the Prime Minister must convey his stance.
As per the NSCN (IM), the architect of the Framework Agreement, signed on August 3, 2015, was Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who “brilliantly orchestrated” the same at his official residence in New Delhi.
The MPs’ letter has once again brought the Framework Agreement into focus, which hyped up “much expectations and imagination” and opened up new horizons towards meeting the political aspirations of the Nagas when it was inked in 2015, it maintained.
“It created the much-needed breathing space for both the negotiating parties, before starting to take the next crucial steps,” it added, citing the “excitement” reflected in the Prime Minister’s speech as well as the live telecast of the signing ceremony.
The political significance of the Framework Agreement, the NSCN (IM) pointed out, lies in the Prime Minister's public declaration to Indian political leaders, presenting it as a breakthrough in resolving the long-standing Naga issue, which he termed the “longest insurgency in Southeast Asia.”
In this connection, it noted that the delay of over 27 years thereafter has naturally triggered the “expected apprehensions and lack of sincerity” on the part of the Government of India, it held.
The NSCN (IM) also asserted that the Framework Agreement should not be compared with the “Agreed Position” signed with the Working Committee, Naga National Political Groups (WC-NNPGs), allegedly a group created by R.N. Ravi, the former Governor of Nagaland as well as the former Interlocutor in the Naga peace talks.
“This Agreed Position is nothing but a colouration of Article 371A of the Indian Constitution as craftily handled by the Indian agencies,” it claimed.
As repeatedly stated by the WC-NNPGs, negotiations between the GoI and NNPGs concluded on October 31, 2019, and finding the meeting point between the Framework Agreement and the Agreed Position is difficult, it added, downplaying the same.
Meanwhile, the NSCN (IM) pointed out that the Naga political groups under the banner of the Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR) have taken the “historic decision” to stand by the “Covenant of Reconciliation based on the historical and political rights of the Nagas and appended their signatures on the recognition of Simon’s Commission, 1929, declaration of Naga Independence 1947 and plebiscite 1951.”
Thus, it asserted that it would be an “act of betraying if we go back against our vow before the creator God to seek Naga solution under the Indian Constitution.”
It further reminded that, taking the “legitimacy” of the Naga political movement spearheaded by the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN), the Indo-Naga political talks have passed through the hands of six successive Prime Ministers of India.
The seriousness of delays in the Naga political issue was expressed by three former prime ministers, V.P. Singh, Chandra Shekhar, and Deve Gowda, in a joint letter to the Prime Minister of India and the Prime Minister of Thailand to give their sincere support to the Naga political talks, it added.
However, it alleged that Naga representatives in the Indian Parliament in the past “made a mockery of the sanctity of the Naga political issue” by feigning ignorance of the “seriousness of the delayed Naga political talks” when the issue came up while debating the extension of the Indo-Naga ceasefire in Manipur in July 2001.
Nevertheless, given the geopolitical importance of Nagalim and its commitment to a peaceful political solution, the NSCN (IM) stated that the GoI must send the “right signal” across the Northeast region and not let the “fragile situation turn into a fireball by not taking forward the Framework Agreement to its logical conclusion.”
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