Morung Express News
Dimapur | May 14
Participating in an international conference recently at London ahead of the crucial round of talks slated for May 18 at Amsterdam, the NSCN (IM) has send out a clear message that it is not happy with the pace and progress made in the peace talks with New Delhi.
“In spite of their assurances and commitments given to the NSCN, the Government of India has not taken any concrete political steps so far. We have tabled a number of points on substantive issues for solution, but there is no tangible response from the Government of India till date”, Secretary of the Steering Committee Rh. Raising told a conference held at the Houses of Parliament, Westminster London, on May 11 during the launching of Parliamentarians for National Self-Determination.
Pointing out that the Naga people have become restive and impatient in waiting for almost a decade for a positive response from the Government of India, the NSCN (IM) leader put the case for a third party role at the talks level. “At this crucial juncture, we strongly feel the need for a third party mediation”, the NSCN (IM) official told the international conference of national representatives from Westminster, Europe and Asia.
Referring to the landmark Amsterdam talks 2002, in which the government of India and NSCN signed a joint communiqué which officially recognized the ‘Unique history and situation of the Nagas’, the NSCN (IM) pointed to its significance that Nagas are not a party to the Union of India and also that since the case was unique, solution had to be unique. “Another response to our chief negotiator Th. Muivah, Ato Kilonser (Prime Minister), Government of the People’s Republic of Nagalim, in the recent talks was ‘Solution outside the box’. This given term bears political interpretation”, Raising said.
In another significant statement, the NSCN (IM) declared that the British, being once “our colonial power”, have the moral responsibility to say something on the issue so that justice is done to the Nagas. “We feel that the Nagas are the innocent victims of the British intentional silence on the Indo-Naga issue. I, on behalf of the Naga people and Government of the People’s Republic of Nagalim, would like to appeal to the British people and their government in particular and the world community in general to help solve the problem,” Raising said in his speech.
On the current peace process, it was informed that one of the significant steps taken by NSCN (IM) is the shift of policy and strategy from guerrilla warfare to mass warfare, from machine gun warfare to computer warfare and from armed confrontation to political negotiation. “Nagas are committed to political solution and they shall abide by that if otherwise dictated by circumstances”, the official commented with a note of caution.
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