Rebel leader’s passing mustn’t hurt peace talks

With the death of Isak Chisi Swu, the chairman and co-founder of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN), on June 28, it is now the responsibility of Thuingaleng Muivah, the general secretary of the outfit, to take the ongoing Naga peace talks towards a final settlement with the Union Government. It would have been a great relief for the Naga community and for the rest of North East, if a settlement could have worked out while Swu was alive. The draft framework agreement which was signed last year on August 3 at the Prime Minister's residence between Muivah and the Centre's interlocutor RN Ravi was hailed as a historic accord by the Government. While calling for an amicable settlement of the problem, the Centre's peace initiatives need an involvement of all other States of North East as the Naga problem is much more glued to land than its proclaimed ethnic identity.

There must be a joint effort from the State Government of Nagaland, Muivah and the Union Government to bring all the rival factions of the NSCN. The signing of the pact last year was a historic moment as it was reached after 80 rounds of negotiations spanning 16 years, with the first breakthrough being made in 1997 in the form of a ceasefire agreement. Since no Government at the Centre had taken pragmatic steps towards chalking out a clear roadmap while taking into consideration of the boundary issue of the greater Nagaland, the intervening years had witnessed fratricidal killings wrought by two rival factions of the NSCN — one by Isak-Muivah and the other by SS Khaplang. This bloodbath could have been easily avoided if Delhi would have been little sensitive about the Naga issue.

Sensing the restlessness across Nagaland since the signing of the framework agreement, the Union Government must take immediate steps to bring a solution to the NSCN issue. Else, peace in North East may be illusory for years to come as the NSCN saga not only involves Nagaland, but also Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur etc. In fact it should not be a delaying tactic of the Government so that gradually the Naga issue dies down rather it is other way round-once again Nagaland can be a ‘boiling pot of the North East'. However, with successive political establishments in Delhi, the Naga peace process hardly moves beyond the negotiating table or closed door talks and it is regularly addressed as a ‘law and order' problem in the national security domain.

It is hoped that under the dynamic leadership of Modi, the Naga talks should be taken to a logical conclusion and the grievances of the Naga community and non-Nagas residing in Nagaland demand an urgent attention from the Union Government. Currently, Muivah is of the opinion that the Government is serious about hammering a solution to their problem. The trust of the Naga leadership should be respected by the Modi Government in paving the way for bringing an end to the oldest insurgency in the country. As the Prime Minister had already announced that his Government will work out an ‘honourable settlement' in regard to the NSCN problem, he must push forward. The most important aspect of the Naga issue is territorial integrity of the affected States while considering the long list of demands of the leadership of the movement.