Core committee on Naga political issue to meet Amit Shah soon, says TR Zeliang

Our Correspondent
Kohima, March 24 (EMN): Leader of NPF Legislature party and UDA Chairman TR Zeliang on Thursday informed that after the assembly session, the core committee on Naga political issue plans to meet with the Union Home minister to ascertain GOI’s latest position about the issue.

‘This will be followed by meetings with the Naga political groups including the NSCN (IM) to hammer out and settle the differences. Otherwise, the deadlock between GOI and the NSCN (IM) will continue,’ he said while participating in a general discussion of the Budget speech.

He went on to clarify meeting with Central leaders were ‘not for any developmental package or other purposes’ but to know GOI’s position on the issue so that it can be amicably settled.

He further clarified that the coming together of the 60 MLAs was the “request of the 7 NNPG and NSCN (IM)”.

The UDA chairman stated that all should work seriously towards Naga political issue by dwelling on “the truth”.

‘The two parties’ differences (GOI and NSCN-IM) cannot be mended by any other, but by the 60 MLAs’, he remarked and added that the MLAs will continue to act as facilitators.

Despite the Naga political issue landing 25 years after the signing of the ceasefire agreement, the solution cannot take place till date, he said.

 He remarked that having “two agreements” (Framework Agreement and Agreed Positions) on one issue (Naga political issue) is where “controversy started” and “creating a parallel talk is an issue”, which he said was the “work” of the then interlocutor RN Ravi.

With regard to the consultative meeting on Oct. 31, 2019, where the talk was “concluded successfully”, Zeliang said that Ravi and the NSCN (IM) on a “mutual understanding” agreed that they would “revisit the agreement clause by clause”.

However, Ravi outrightly rejected the NSCN (IM)’s demand for a separate flag and constitution saying the two contentious issues are “outside the purview of agreement”.

From then on, there has been a deadlock between the interlocutor, representing GOI and the NSCN (IM), he said.

TR Zeliang said that 7 NNPG are “ready” but the NSCN (IM) and GOI could not arrive at an understanding. ‘If the NSCN don’t agree, we as facilitators should pursue until they agree’, he added. Meanwhile, he informed that GOI’s new representative AK Mishra is yet to come back to Nagaland after his meeting with the NPGs last year.