The talk on the Greater Nagalim issue
seems to enter its final phase. The state government demands to bring a
‘conclusion’ before the Assembly elections which is schedule early next year
and the Centre says, ‘we are on the track’.
The fifteen (15) year old
‘peace talks’ with the Union Government and National Socialist Council of
Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) NSCN-IM has reached its climax and the negotiation seems
to stick strictly on the demand of the settlement of greater Nagalim issue.
Naga insurgents have been fighting
for an independent Nagaland for over six decades. It entered into a ceasefire in
August 1997. Later NSCN-IM demanded a "Greater Nagaland" by slicing
off parts of neighbouring Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Burma (now
Myanmar) to unite 1.2 million Nagas. Several rounds of talks with the Union
Government since 1997 have failed to provide a solution to end the Indo-Naga
struggle. The emergence of NSCN factions has only added to the complications in
finding a solution.
On October the 16th , a delegation of top Naga leaders led
by Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio met Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar
Shinde in New Delhi and reiterated their demand for a permanent solution to the
problem of insurgency in the State before the Assembly elections due early next
year.
Urging Mr.Shinde to speed up the
ongoing peace talks with the NSCN-IM), the 19 Nagaland MLAs told him that the
"peace-loving people" of the northeastern State wanted this
six-decade-old problem of militancy to end soon. They said that if the Centre
failed to reach a solution before the end of the current term of the 60-member
Assembly on March 26, 2013, it would shatter the fragile peace in the
northeast.
Notably, the Naga leaders want the
Centre to sign a pact with the NSCN (IM) before the polls so that the rebel
leaders can also take part in the elections.
Union Home Minister Mr.Shinde said
that he was hopeful of an early settlement of the Naga problem, and was in
touch with the Chief Ministers of Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh on the issue.
In the meantime, reacting to the
union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde’s request to help out in bringing about
a solution to these issues, Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh has said
that he was not in a position to oblige since the details of the points of
agreement between the government of India and the NSCN (I-M) is not known to us. It may be mentioned that demand for
‘Naga integration’ is being strongly opposed by all three states-Manipur, Assam
and Arunachal Pradesh.
Ibobi Singh meets Home Minister
Sushil Kumar Shinde on October the 19th and discusses the peace talks with the
National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM). His visit comes a day after
the Manipur cabinet formed a four-member cabinet sub-committee to monitor
developments in the Naga peace dialogue after Shinde hinted that a pact with
the NSCN-IM was likely before March.
The committee headed by Ibobi also
has Home Minister G. Gaikhangam, Revenue Minister Th Debendra and Health and
Family Welfare Minister Phungzathang Tonsing.
Meanwhile, the United Committee of
Manipur (UCM) threatened to launch a mass campaign in case the state and
central governments acted in a manner that adversely affected the people of
Manipur. The UCM is a rights group in Manipur which came into the limelight
during the 2001 violence against the extension of the jurisdiction of the
ceasefire with the NSCN-IM.
On the other hand, since the United
Naga Council of Manipur insisted that alternative arrangement be outside the
realm of Manipur, Ibobi may have to negotiate the contours of the agreement.
In this regard, the Union Government
would have to hold serious talks with both Manipur and the NSCN (I-M). Ibobi
has been placed in a difficult position as he would be damned either way.
However, he has made it clear that Manipur government wished that an amicable
solution was worked out between the government of India and the NSCN (I-M).
The UPA government including the
opposition led by the BJP and its constituents are supportive of an early
solution.
After signing of the cease fire
agreement signed in 1977 between the government of India and NSCN (I-M) , 50
rounds of talks were held to end the longest insurgency in South Asia that has
killed several thousand people since the fifties. During earlier talks, the
NSCN (I-M) had proposed a special federal arrangement to enable the Nagas
self-governance, but the negotiations ended inconclusively.
Kuki Inpis appeal:
Kuki Inpis has once again appealed
to the Government of India to first settle what it described as crimes
committed by NSCN (I-M) on Kuki communities prior to signing any agreement with
the group.
According to a statement purportedly
issued by Kuki Inpis, they have said that settlement must be acceptable to all
the indigenous people living with the Kukis on the principles of democratic
norms.
Stating that Kukis had submitted two
memoranda on October the 17th to
the President and the Prime Minister, Kukis reiterated that any agreement
between the government of India and NSCN (I-M) that did not consider “the voice
of the victims” would never be accepted.
They also warned that such an
agreement might even be taken as a seed sown to start civil war to annihilate
innocent indigenous people of the region.
Stating that the voice of the loyal
citizens must be heard as per the law of the nation, Inpis reminded that over
60 memoranda were submitted for the settlement of the “crimes committed by NSCN
(I-M)”.
Kuki Inpis claimed that NSCN (I-M)
have murdered 900 Indian Kukis including women, children and the aged besides
uprooting 360 villages and displacing 100,000 Kukis, having no place to settle.
Alternative arrangement-
On October the 20th,
Union Home Minister Shushil Kumar Shinde presented the six point draft proposal
to Chief Minister O Ibobi at Manipur Bhawan. The six point draft proposal
pertains to the settlement which is reported to be close at hand after a
prolonged political dialogue between the Centre and the NSCN (IM). Though
nothing official has come out as yet, sources from the Home Ministry said that
some of the probable alternatives for working out a settlement could hinge
around ‘more autonomy’, ‘amendment of the Indian Consti- tution,’ and ‘areas to
be administered under the 6th Schedule of the Constitution’.
According to Union Home Ministry
sources, a draft proposal has been prepared and the same has been placed before
the Chief Minister of Assam Tarun Gogoi, Mani-pur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi
and Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Nabam Tuki.
The final approval or rather the
stamp of agreement by the Chief Ministers of the three States will be the key
to the solution being sought.
In 2001 when the ‘without
territorial limits’ clause was inserted in the peace talk, the Government of
Manipur was not consulted. Nine years later, in 2010, the State Government too
was not consulted, when the Centre gave the go ahead signal to the proposal
that Th Muivah visit his birth place at Somdal.
It
is only this time that the Chief Minister has been taken into confidence. The
entire NE region especially Manipur, Arunachal, Assam could be the venue of
ever lasting peace (however exotic it might sound) or a battle ground of
volatile incidents depending on the outcome of ‘peace talks’ between the
government of India and NSCN-IM. It is hoped that the outcome of the outcome of
the talks would be acceptable to all the parties who have a stake in it.
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