No settlement can be a ‘political settlement’ without interactive participation of the Naga people
DIMAPUR, JULY 18 (MExN): The NSCN (K) on Tuesday said no settlement can be termed as a “political settlement” without the broad and transparent interactive participation of the Naga people.
“Any settlement must take into account the sacrifices of thousands of precious Naga lives and decades of sufferings the Nagas have been made to endure in quest of sovereignty. The past disastrous agreements of 1960 and 1975 must not be experimented again upon the Nagas,” MIP, NSCN/GPRN stated.
In apparent reference to the Framework Agreement signed between the NSCN (IM) and the Government of India, the NSCN (K) said the Nagas must be very cautious to commit to any process that does not consider transparency and accountability of the deliberated issues and contemplated settlement as paramount.
Asserting that every single Naga have every right to know the aspects of one’s fate that is being discussed and to be decided, the NSCN (K) said no amount of threat and intimidation can force the Nagas to blindly accept or endorse the deal that remains shrouded in secrecy.
The NSCN (K) admitted that sensitivity of the issue may be required for particular stages of dialogue and certain contents treated with confidentiality, however, pointed out that settlement “hatched in closed doors without people’s mandate cannot be enforced on the people.”
Stating that the people have every right to reject any settlement that does not address the core issue of Naga sovereignty, it went on to remind that the past bitter experiences are “enough an eye opener to avoid hatching political plots intended to stall the struggle rather than solving it.”
The NSCN (K) also maintained that it is not averse to peace or dialogue, however, cannot be a party to the ongoing peace processes and dialogues between the GOI and various factions that have clearly underlined the acceptance of Indian Constitution as the imminent condition for any settlement.
“Under no circumstance will the NSCN be bullied to succumb to preconditions that stifle the sovereign status of the Nagas nor shall it exonerate any group or faction that betrays the sovereign rights of the Nagas for mere fulfilment of one’s self-seeking materialistic ambitions,” it added.
