Dimapur, June 11 (MExN): Following the formation of Core Committee on Naga political issue by the Nagaland state government, the NSCN (IM) on Friday stated that it would welcome the committee with the condition that it does not attempt to dilute the spirit and substance of the Framework Agreement as the final basis for Naga political solution.
In a press statement issued through its MIP, the NSCN (IM) put on record that the Framework Agreement (FA) was not something that was signed in a hurry, but the result of a long series of talks, when the Government of India finally proposed the Framework Agreement as a formula for a ‘win-win solution,’
“It was the result of the well thought out proposal from the Government of India (GoI) when the Indo-Naga political talk faced deadlock-like situation as the Indian and Naga leaders took their respective stands with no meeting point when the talk touched on the core issue of solution within Indian constitution (Indian stand) and outside the Indian constitution (Naga stand),” the statement read.
It stated that the talks had revolved around the FA with both the parties cautiously taking care not to allow either side to take strategic advantage or deviation from FA. The NSCN (IM) said it would welcome the formation of the Core Committee “as long as there is no attempt to dilute the spirit and substance of the Framework Agreement as mutually agreed upon by both the Government of India and National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN) as the final basis for Naga political solution.”
In its statement, NSCN (IM) cautioned that no such committee is expected to bear fruits if historical realities are not taken into account. It said that the “’foot-in-mouth’ syndrome identified with the state BJP unit in Nagaland” is already giving the Core Committee a bad picture before the work takes off. “If the BJP want to solve the Naga political issue within the Indian Constitution it is high time the BJP make its stand very clear if it takes cognizance of the Naga national movement with reference to the declaration of the Naga Independence on the August 14, 1947 and the Naga Plebiscite on the May 16, 1951,” it stated.
Asserting that the two events constitute the most important landmarks in the Naga national movement and it is with the United Nations Organization, it added that the Naga people went through horrendous violations of human rights never seen anywhere in the world. “BJP should make its stand very clear, either to admit these factual accounts of history or deny it,” it added.
It also cautioned that Core Committee members “should not overrate themselves or outdo its role at the cost of destroying the Naga political identity.” The mistakes of history should not be repeated at the hands of Core Committee.
Further, the NSCN (IM) noted that some Naga intellectuals, political and public leaders while giving interviews or during debates go ‘overboard’ and project Naga history incorrectly. “We are compelled to caution them to exercise restraint lest Naga political history is distorted or cynically manipulated,” it said.
