Focus on Burma after clear picture with India: NSCN (IM)
DIMAPUR, JULY 5 (MExN): Dialogue with Burma (Myanmar) will take root after negotiations with the more “influential” India bears fruit, the NSCN (IM) has said. Since Nagas are also scattered across an international boundary, the roadmap for Nagas to live as an entity has to comprise of two phases, NSCN (IM) Deputy Kilonser V Horam said recently to this news daily. “When the time comes we will sit down and resolve the issue (with Burma)” he said. “What is more important is India is more influential (read powerful).”
He informed that the organization of which he is a part of has already entered into a unilateral ceasefire with the government in Myanmar. This gives the impression that under this arrangement, the armed organization’s cadres will not fire at Myanmar’s soldiers, unless fired upon. The NSCN (IM) is looking forward to maintaining a cordial relationship with the government in Burma before a bilateral ceasefire and before table discussions take place, Horam said. He added that intellectuals closely observing the latest political developments had the pressing question of “What about Nagas in Burma?” in their minds.
When asked to comment, a Burmese Naga leader actively engaged in the ‘Free Aung San Suu Kyi’ movement said the Indo-Naga talks were “completely out of the picture” in Burma. “When there is no participation, the issue may not be known (by Burmese Nagas) at all,” he reasoned. We are all Nagas but are divided across two countries, he said.
The activist demanding Suu Kyi’s early release said the Nagas in Burma are “very innocent” and are not aware of latest political developments. A few educated people who know a thing or two speak of the Naga problem but since they do not understand all the issues involved their words cannot be taken as conclusive, he said. This can be attributed to the low literacy rates and lack of development in these areas. Rights groups strongly advocate that Burma’s junta deprive people, especially those in rural areas, of basic rights, while it continues to fill its coffers by suppressing democracy.
.jpg)
