Dimapur, November 23 (MExN): The Prime Minister of India must demonstrate courage and clarify the ambiguity surrounding the stand of Delhi on the Naga issue and resolve the issue before it goes forward with showcasing the Hornbill Festival on a global scale, The Naga Rising (TNR) said on Wednesday.
Similarly, while the Naga people have put their trust on the negotiators and the peace process, uncertainty continues to loom large over the Naga issue and it is the responsibility of the negotiators to ensure that hope does not turn into despair, TNR Convenor Along Longkumer and Secretary Khriezodilhou Yhome stated in a press release.
Accordingly, TNR stated that India, as plans to showcase Nagaland’s Hornbill Festival when it assumes the G20 Presidency on December 1, “must ask what would better reflect India’s image at the global stage– resolving the Naga political issue before showcasing the Hornbill Festival of Nagaland ‘through the lens of G20’ or after.”
It also said that the Government of India (GoI) can resolve the Naga issue if it “accepts the simple truth that the Naga issue is political in nature—not cultural or law and order.” The wide spectrum of political support towards the Naga peace process through successive Indian Prime Ministers should neither be undermined at this stage, it added.
Stating that the Prime Minister must clarify the ambiguity around Delhi’s stand on the issue, TNR opined that Naga Political Groups (NPGs) “have gone out of their way” to understand the difficulties of the GoI and “have met the GoI halfway on integration, sovereignty and other core issues that were earlier considered non-negotiable by the Nagas. The flag and constitution are the only unresolved issue.”
The Naga flag and constitution is neither a threat nor diminish India’s standing as an emerging global power. These symbols are embedded in the unique history and situation of the Nagas, as rightly acknowledged and recognized by the GoI, it contended.
A meeting point on the unresolved flag and constitution should be arrived at without further delay. The long years of investing in the peace process for an honourable solution by the Naga people should be respected by both Delhi and NPGs, TNR stated.
According to TNR, recognising the Naga flag should be a way of honouring Naga integration, which Naga negotiators have agreed to pursue later. It would also realise the ‘special arrangement’ for the Nagas that has been promised at the highest level of the GoI, it said.
Further, it said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been sharing the message that the present era is not the time for war, at international forums. In the same breath, PM Modi should realise that this is not the era of divide and rule but of peace and resolution, it added.
