DIMAPUR, MAY 28 (MExN): Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio has pointed out that while the DAN government’s approach is for a final settlement ‘acceptable to the people” he stated that the NPCC advocated a final settlement acceptable to all sections of the people/society. “Considering the complexities of the Naga political issue and the fractured nature of the present Naga political groupings of both over ground and underground, to insist on a final settlement in one installment, which will also be acceptable to every section or group of the Naga society, may not be realistic”.
In a rejoinder to a statement made by NPCC President on the Chief Minister’s remark of an interim solution, Rio pointed out that the NPCC had no moral right now to raise the issue of Naga sovereignty or final settlement because their infamous ‘Bedrock of Naga Society’ had already stated that statehood is the best thing that has happened to the Nagas. Rio further quoted the booklet as stating that “impartial persons who have no political axe to grind, and who genuinely have the interest of the Nagas at heart, too, seem to believe that the 16-point agreement compromised the demand for a sovereign Naga nation”.
“I do not understand how the NPCC, who had already compromised the issue of Naga sovereignty, should react to my statement in such a manner”, Rio explained. Rio questioned the motive of the NPCC in coming out with such a rigid pre-condition for settlement of the Naga political issue at this juncture. “It exposes their plain obduracy, or lack of real interest and concern in saving the delicate peace talk and in maintaining the current ceasefire condition for the ultimate objective of bringing about final settlement to the Naga political issue”, Rio stated.
