General Secretary of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim, Th Muivah arriving at the reception hosted for him at New Delhi late Saturday evening.
Dimapur, February 28 (MExN): General Secretary of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim Th Muivah has arrived in New Delhi late Saturday night at the invitation of the Prime Minister of India, sources informed. In this connection, the Nagas in Delhi organized a Reception Program at 61 Lodi Estate, Lodi Road where over 1000 people attended. According to a press communiqué from New Delhi based “The Naga Times”, the documentary films-‘Nagalim: Pilgrims for Peace’ by Sam Kalayanee and ‘Naga Story: The Other Side of Silence’ by Gopal Menon were shown before dinner was served to the mass. As soon as the Collective Leadership arrived at Lodi Estate, Luikang Lamak, President, the Naga Students’ Union, Delhi gave a welcome speech which was followed by Shawl presentation to the leadership by the Eastern Nagaland Students’ Union, Delhi. The press communiqué informed that the Collective Leadership delivered an awe-inspiring message to the audience.
The press communiqué while terming the present visit as very important also disclosed that after several rounds of talks, the Government of India on September 15, 2008 suggested an idea of an Interim Arrangement to the NSCN leaders. However, as the GOI has not formulated any Blueprint or Roadmap of the Interim Arrangement, the parties decided to meet soon for discussion, it stated. On September 30, 2008, the parties decided to have dialogues outside, i.e., in the third country, so as to uphold the terms of talk agreed upon by both the entities. It was further revealed that on December 5, 2008, the GOI brought forward a formula akin to Mizo Accord of 1986 which, however, was strongly rejected by the Naga leaders due to the fact that histories, cultures and identities between the Nagas and the Mizos are different.
According to the press note from the Naga Times, the GOI representatives admitted their mistake saying that ‘It was wrong on their part to have misused the political term’.
The last meeting between the two parties was held from 24-25 March 2009 in Zurich where the GOI’s delegation told the NSCN leaders that they have not been given any mandate for the political talk. The Naga leaders were told that negotiations should resume after the 15th Lok Sabha elections. “Since then, a lot of grave incidents have taken place such as, Sri Lankan military crackdown on the LTTE, military crackdown on Taliban in Afghanistan, 26/11 Mumbai Attack etc. which have led the GOI hardened its mind to solve and transform the Indo-Naga conflict”, the Naga Times stated. Even after the UPA-II government formation, the GOI was not serious enough to resume talks except talking through the media, it went on to state.
Calling for a concrete political roadmap informed by the principles of democracy, historical and political rights, justice and human dignity, the press note stated that the need of the hour is for an early solution mutually acceptable to both the parties.
Stage set for GoI-NSCN (IM) talks
New Delhi/Dimapur, February 28 (AGENCIES): Thuingaleng Muivah, general secretary of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah), will hold talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram in New Delhi next week, Union Home Secretary G.K. Pillai said on Saturday. Mr. Pillai told journalists on the sidelines of a special attestation parade held at the Assam rifles Training Centre and School here in Dimapur that Mr. Muivah was on his way to New Delhi for the next round of peace talks. He was coming at the invitation of the government.
He said there would be a sustained dialogue with the NSCN (IM) and the government would be as flexible as possible to solve the problem with peace and honour. Mr. Pillai said he was hopeful of a positive outcome, though he refused to divulge the agenda. Since the government initiated the talks, it would continue the process and try to bring it to a conclusion. He, however, said a final solution had to be worked out with all underground groups.
Representatives of Western Sumi Hoho urged Mr. Pillai to convey to the Centre that all underground groups should be taken on board before a solution is arrived at. They told him that it was the people who suffered, as they had to pay taxes to the elected government as well as the parallel governments run by the underground groups. Women groups said women and children were the worst sufferers of the prolonged conflict.
Sandeep Dikshit reports from New Delhi:
Naga leaders will also hold talks with R.S. Pandey, a former Petroleum Secretary and former Chief Secretary of Nagaland, who has recently been appointed as interlocutor, official sources said. “The political maturity exhibited by the two entities is highly appreciated. The Nagas hope both will demonstrate the political will and come up with an honourable solution to the protracted conflict. To demonstrate our support to both the entities, the Nagas in Delhi are organising a reception for all the NSCN,” said Abu of the Naga People’s Movement for Human Rights.
The NSCN and the Indian government opened a political dialogue in 1997 and have held 67 rounds of talks so far. The last round, held in March 2009 in Zurich, remained inconclusive. Mr. Muivah is also expected to travel to Nagaland to take stock of the situation arising out of the clashes between his larger NSCN faction and another led by S.S. Khaplang.
