Many will probably recall the stand taken sometime in the late 1990s when Naga civil society undertook a mass campaign under the slogan ‘Nagas want solution and not election’ with the mass based organizations making their appeal to the Government of India and also the political parties in the State. Except for the Nagaland Congress under SC Jamir, the other parties including the regional outfit NPC and even the BJP lend their support to the appeal. The Congress on the other hand argued the case that continuity had to be maintained and election was a constitutional necessity to have a government in place. While stating this, the then Chief Minister SC Jamir reiterated his stand of stepping down when a final settlement between the Government of India and the Naga undergrounds was arrived at and to pave way for such an alternative arrangement. The present Chief Minister of the ruling NPF Neiphiu Rio has also taken this same stand and only recently reiterated this position to resign. Coming to the slogan ‘Solution not Election’ in the run up to the 1998 Assembly Election, while many had criticized the stand of the Congress then, perhaps on hindsight, it was the right thing to do at that time when the ceasefire between the Government of India and the NSCN (IM) had just been signed in 1997 and the peace talks was only beginning. Perhaps in 1997 it was a little premature to expect a settlement although the intention of the mass based civil organizations must be appreciated.
The fact that almost fifteen years have elapsed since that mass campaign and Nagaland has seen the smooth functioning of the NPF government (after dislodging the Congress in 2003) for two consecutive terms, it is perhaps an appropriate time to once again explore creative ways towards the solution that everyone is talking about. It may not be possible to go back on the mass campaign under the slogan of ‘Solution not Election’ as even the ruling NPF seems prepared to face election if nothing comes out from the Naga peace process and also because, things are now different. While the world is changing, Nagas have also changed for the better, although we are still learning to solve our problems and conflicts. One positive outcome of all these years has been the stand taken by our political parties to rise above politics on the Naga issue. Today our parties are presenting a united stand. They have formed a Joint Legislature Forum consisting of all the MLAs cutting across party lines. Going a step further, this time all the elected Members of the Legislative Assembly, Nagaland have also offered to quit in favour of a settlement. They have also decided to form a joint team of selected leaders from both the ruling NPF and Opposition Congress to help in expediting the peace process. There seems to be also complete unanimity among mass based Naga civil society groups and the political parties wanting a settlement before the next Nagaland Assembly Elections slated for early 2013. Naga people are united in the demand for an early political settlement. All this makes it only clear for our Naga political groups to come to a meeting point. With prospect of Mid-term General Election in India looking every bit a possibility and the uncertainty surrounding the kind of government or political leadership that could emerge in Delhi, Nagas must act with even greater urgency.
