The NSCN IM said talks failed to live up to all the hype as the Govt of India continues to indulge in political escapism on the very issues that is holding up the road to the Naga solution.
NSCN-IM said that when the formal Indo-Naga talk was resumed with the new interlocutor AK Mishra after a gap of nearly two years, much hype was generated that the final Naga solution is just round the corner and it may come as a Christmas gift to the Nagas. While the Nagas’ intense craving for solution is a matter of more than two decades when the Indo-Naga peace talks started in 1997, what is more important is how the Government of India comes to terms with the sentiment of the Naga people on the Naga flag and the Yehzabo (Constitution).
The organization added the Government of India is still pretentiously acting stubborn as the crucial rounds of talks that focused on the Naga flag and the Constitution is driven to hang in balance. The stalemate created is unfortunate. Needless to say, the Naga flag is not just a piece of cloth to the Nagas but a feeling of pride which helped hundreds of Naga martyrs to sacrifice their lives by just seeing the flag flying high in the sky.
NSCN-IM said, “Government of India is talking in different language to different negotiating Naga groups in the matter of the Naga flag. But NSCN IM is not impressed when the offer was made to accept the Naga flag as a cultural symbol. The Naga issue is not a cultural issue that the Government of India should change the Naga flag as a cultural symbol and forego the Nagapolitical identity as symbolize by the Naga flag. Where is the need for the Indo-Naga ceasefire if the Naga issue is a cultural problem and where is the need to drag on the Indo-Naga talks for more than two decades if the issue is something to do to solve cultural conflicts?
Naga people to make another blunder by falling into the trap being machinated by the Government of India. The earlier agreements or accords in the name of the Naga political solution are simply too terrible to recall. Once bitten twice shy.
All said and done, the Naga national flag is of utmost importance for the Naga people and holds much spiritual value. It is the roof under which the feeling of nationalism and patriotism flourishes. “
A delegation of NSCN-IM which included chief negotiator Th. Muivah, chairman Q. Tuccu and vice chairman Tongmeth Wangnao were in national capital.
Former special director of the Intelligence Bureau, AK Mishra and the NSCN (I-M) leadership led by Th Muivah met in Dimapur recently.
Recently, the previous interlocutor of Naga peace talks, Nagaland governor RN Ravi, was shifted to Tamil Nadu.
Ravi and NSCN-IM were at loggerheads on different issues, including the interpretation of the Framework Agreement of 2015.
NSCN-IM had earlier opposed Ravi when he inked an agreement with the seven-member Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs). NSCN-IM had last year refused to hold discussions with Ravi and instead chose to have an informal discussion with IB officials.
NSCN-IM has been demanding a separate flag and Constitution which the government of India had rejected.
-Agencies