The prospect of a political solution to the Indo-Naga issue was very much on the cards with talks doing the rounds of either happening before the end of December 2012 or early 2013 but definitely before the next Assembly Elections. There was reason to believe that a solution was imminent given the positive signals coming from the two negotiation team—the Government of India and the NSCN (IM). Even the Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde was on record as stating that a solution would be signed before the next Assembly Elections. Sadly, this has not happened with the Election Commission of India announcing dates for the Nagaland elections slated for February 23, 2013. The coming together of the main political parties, the ruling NPF and Opposition Congress, rising above politics, to form the Joint Legislators Forum (JLF), in order to help address the long drawn Naga issue, is now in the backburner. An opportunity has been lost to try and settle the Indo-Naga issue. The political parties in Nagaland could have tried harder although it must be said that in the end it was the Government of India which failed to deliver.
There could be valid reasons why all the talk of a pending settlement could not be done as was expected. However New Delhi has failed to communicate why a solution has been delayed. And this is precisely the problem with the Indo-Naga peace process. There is too much secrecy involved. While we agree that negotiation or peace talks cannot take place in full public glare, nevertheless fifteen years of having a peace process is time enough to make known to the public, at least the broad contours of what is to be expected. Off course now with elections announced, people in Nagaland at least, they are not interested to know about solution. Only election and formation of the next government is of interest to the people. And who should be blamed for this? Does the Government of India, here the Congress led UPA, realize that once a newly elected government takes office in Nagaland, it is highly unlikely that they will want to pave way for a political settlement so soon. Perhaps having elections now will give both the current negotiation team another four to five years to find an amicable settlement. So basically does this mean that the GoI and the NSCN (IM) are closing the doors to an early settlement?
Coming back to the UPA government at the Centre, after having been in power for a decade or so, the Congress should consider this as their failure to settle the Naga issue. The Prime Minister was on record as saying that the Naga issue would be settled within the current term of the present UPA government. With General Elections next year and also a newly mandated government in Nagaland, this is highly unlikely to happen. It would seem therefore that the Congress party has once again failed the Naga people. One of things that amazes about the long tenure of the Congress led UPA I-II government has been its failure to deliver on its political promises. The Telangana Statehood issue is one fine example of how the Congress has been wavering. The latest we are hearing is that a decision on a separate Telangana state may be delayed with the Congress seeking to buy more time to resolve the issue despite the January 28 deadline set by the Centre. As for the Naga issue, it is almost like a cruel joke when Congress leaders, especially from the AICC with the coming election in mind, start to once again make promises to bring an acceptable solution. What about the ten long years of running the government at the Centre? How long do we wait?
