India playing ‘cat and mouse game’ with Nagas — NMA

Dimapur, Feb. 27 (EMN): The Naga Mothers’ Association (NMA) has expressed disappointment with the government of India over the manner in which it has handled the Naga issue till date. The association has stated in a memorandum addressed to the centre’s interlocutor for Naga peace talks RN Ravi that it has decided to boycott his visit to the state “due to the insincerity of the government of India to resolve the long-drawn Naga political issue.” The statement came on the backdrop of several Naga civil society organisations, including NMA, Naga Hoho and Naga Students’ Federation boycotting the consultative meeting with Ravi on Feb. 26 and 27th in Kohima and Dimapur respectively. The NMA said in a statement that there are ‘many vested interests at play in the peace process, especially by those whose hearts are not committed for bringing peace to our war-torn land of many decades.’ “As long as the Government of India (GoI) does not acknowledge or respect the role that Naga mothers have played in trying to bridge differences amongst our armed brothers and bringing a cessation of hostilities, the NMA will not be in a position to listen to another litany of updates for the days ahead from the Government of India because the future and destiny of our society and people are at stake,” read the memorandum. The apex women’s body from the state said that it is aware of the ‘vested Indian interests trying to take credit for the peace that is hard to come by and fully endorsing patriarchal mindsets even in peace building processes.’ It also lamented that Indian government has failed to make use of the rare opportunity of bringing all the NPGs involved in the peace process at a common platform, hinting that it (GoI) is not serious in the peace talks. “The biggest challenge for seeking peace has been the extension of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), including the latest order of giving powers to the Assam Rifles to search without warrants, thus legitimising violations of human rights and granting impunity,” said NMA, adding that it has proven beyond doubt that the GoI is “playing a cat and mouse game with the Nagas.” The association also questioned the intentions of the NIA and expressed shock at the way the Indian government has ignored its plea to withdraw “NIA cases on the government officials in the midst of the peace talks” and “harassed these Naga officials by trying to shift their cases outside Nagaland.” “The NMA has stood by our slogan, “Shed No More Blood” and we hope at the earliest the GoI will work out with the Nagas, a Political Solution that is honourable and acceptable in the interest of peace and the future generation. We cannot afford to lose any more lives to the cruel hands of war and bloodshed. We pray for genuine sincerity and the blessings of God at this crucial period in our history,” read the memorandum.

UNTABA submits representation to Ravi

In another representation addressed to RN Ravi, the United Naga Tribes Association on Border Areas (UNTABA) has demanded that the government of India to fulfil its promise made in the 9 Point Agreement in 1947 and 16 Point Agreement in 1960 to ‘bring back all the reserved forests and contiguous Naga areas to Naga people - the areas that were transferred to Assam administration by the then imperial government of British India so that the tribal Naga people can join the new union of independent India.’ The association lamented that “even after the creation of Nagaland as the 16th State in the Union of India in December 1963, the envisaged promises made in the two political agreements is yet to be fulfilled.” It added that ‘the Naga people will not accept any political settlement’ unless the ‘commitments and promises made to the Naga people’ are fulfilled. It warned that the Indo-Naga political issue will return to square one if the said “reserve forests” is not given to the Nagas and “amalgamate all the contiguous Naga areas in Assam to Nagaland in the impending political settlement.”