NSCN (IM) Continues to Mislead the Naga People

In the November 30, 2016 issue of The Morung Express and the Nagaland Post, someone representing the NSCN (IM), the “MIP, NSCN,” responds to a previous article. I want to address only two points in this response, the first point of some importance, in relation to the credibility of the NSCN (IM), the second point of critical importance to the future of the Naga people.

The first point I will address is in the third paragraph (of four) in the article. It addresses , “…for your doubted mind about the signing of Framework Agreement [of Monday, August 3, 2015] by our beloved leader Late Isak Chisu Swu. It is true that he was kept in ICU and monitor round the clock as his health condition was deteriorated… God answered their prayer. At that point his health was drastically improved; he could able to walk on his own and speak, that was the miracle of God of Nagas. Thereafter he signed the 3rd August Framework Agreement, for any clarification video clippings, photos are available… Mrs… Swu had already clarified that…[it] was signed by…Swu himself on his own will.”

The reason that this issue is not critical is the fact that the agreement was signed by the main parties, witnessed, and has been treated as in effect since August 3, 2015. I bring up the point because it goes to the more critical second point and the lack of credibility of the NSCN (IM).

The second point, discussed in the second paragraph of the article I am addressing, is the following: “The wild allegation of NSCN dropping sovereignty and integration in the current political talks [an accusation by Dr, Hokishe Yeptho, in the article that the MIP is responding to] is completely baseless. The Framework agreement of the 3rd August 2015 clearly recognized ‘sovereignty and integration as legitimate rights of the Nagas’ The Framework Agreement also acknowledged the importance about shared sovereignty of the two equal entities basing on the mutual trust for peaceful coexistence.The sovereignty of the Naga and the sovereignty of India lies with their own people.”

It is my contention that in both points above, the NSCN (IM), as represented here (and I will address the NSCN [IM] as an organization, not address the person who wrote the article on its behalf), is either ignorant of the facts of both the above points or deliberately lying about both points.

My contention is based on page one of the Eastern Mirror dated, “Dimapur, Tuesday, August 4, 2015.” I have the original page in front of me right now, here in my apartment in New York, USA. I read it on August 4, 2015 at my hotel in Kohima and brought it home with me when my trip of that period ended (later that August). I want to emphasize that there are NINE separate articles on page one discussing the agreement, and there are two banner headlines over the articles, one in thick black letters and one in red letters. I will be quoting from the headlines and articles.

On the first issue, in one article (in col. one) it says, “Details of the agreement, signed between NSCN (I-M) general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah and peace talks interlocutor R N Ravi in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, were not announced immediately.” In the next paragraph, it says, “The announcement of the pact was made at …residence of the Prime Minister where I-M leadership – minus chairman Isak Chishi Swu who is ill and has been in and out of the hospital…[and others] were among those present.” In another article (in col. eight), it states, “The landmark peace accord was signed between the government and the NSCN – IM in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh. NSCN -IM leader Thuingaleng Muivah, who signed the pact, described it as a momentous occasion.”

It should be noted above that in neither of the articles did it state that Swu signed the pact, even though it would have been not just appropriate to do so, but if he actually had signed it,it would have been highly improper for not giving him credit for doing so in these two articles (in cols. one and eight). It is clear that, as of the ceremony announcing the agreement, SWU did NOT sign it.

So it now comes into question as to when Swu did in fact sign it. Supposedly, there were “video clippings, photos” which are available of this alleged event. I challenge the NSCN (IM) to produce these video clippings and photos, and they should be of the same evidentiary value that any piece of evidence produced in court would be worth, if the person placing them in evidence was under oath. Remember, photos can be doctored, that is “photo-shopped.”

It is my contention that Swu did not sign the document, or if he did, he did not sign it with any clear understanding of the substance of it. And the fact that Swu’s wife claims that he signed it is of little evidentiary use unless she explains where she was when he signed it and the full circumstances surrounding his signature. (Was he alert, when did he do it in relation to the August 3rd ceremony, etc.?)

Now to the more critical point, the one where the NSCN (IM) states, that the accusation against them, that “NSCN dropping sovereignty and integration in the current political talks is baseless. The …agreement of the 3rd of August 2015 clearly recognized ‘sovereignty and integration as legitimate rights of the Nagas’.”

The reason that this statement is so critical is the fact that I have, in a number of articles going back to one in The Morung Express on April 4, 2016, taken the position that the government of India (hereinafter GoI) cannot offer the Nagas an inclusive Nagalim nor can the GoI offer the Nagas a separate Naga nation. The statement in the November 30th article says, in effect, that I am wrong and that, from the beginning, from the date of the Framework Agreement, it was clear to both sides that the Nagas were demanding both, and both sides commenced the final negotiations (the details of which we still wait) with those facts in mind. It is my contention that that was never the understanding of the parties, and that the NSCN (IM) is lying now. It is no misunderstanding, but simply a lie.

If it was so obvious that Nagalim was a clear given when the agreement was signed why does this appear in columns six and seven on page one in the Eastern Mirror: “Thangso Baite, the Congress Lok Sabha member from Outer Manipur, on Monday cautiously welcomed the peace accord…, saying it should not affect the neighbouring states.” In a later paragraph, it quotes Baite, “If it affects the neighbouring states, it cannot be a peace solution….”

If, as the NSCN (IM) states, it is so clear that a greater Naga state, including Nagas from the surrounding states, were clearly a part of the original August 3rd agreement, Baite would have rejected the accord immediately, not “cautiously welcomed” it. It is clear that there was no such agreement in affect in August 3, 2015. This is confirmed in the headline on page one, the one in red ink: “It was not immediately clear whether the agreement meets the main demand of NSCN(IM) for integration of all Naga-inhabited areas in the NE across Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.” The NSCN (IM) has misled its readers in the November 30th article that I am addressing. And it is clear that the organization had to have known that it was misleading people and presumed, as it always does, that no Naga will doubt its statements or show enough interest to research the matter.

And on the most important matter, a sovereign Naga nation, there is nothing in the agreement to support the NSCN (IM)’s statement that there is agreement on that matter in the August 3rd pact. In fact, there is a quote in a red box on the front page of the Eastern Mirror that says, “‘This framework agreement is a foundation from where a final solution will be hammered out,’ an NSCN-IM leader informed Eastern Mirror over the phone from New Delhi this evening. On the question of Naga integration, the source did not vividly disclose details but said that ‘everything is onboard’. The source then assured to make things public ‘when our work is complete.’”

The words used above are ambiguous to the point of being useless: “everything is onboard.” And the work will NEVER be complete if the NSCN (IM) insists that Naga integration and a sovereign Naga nation is what they are negotiating for and have always negotiated for since the agreement of August 3rd, 2015, because, simply, the GoI never agreed to negotiate on those demands and never will. The NSCN (IM) is stalling for time hoping against hope that somehow all their false promises will work themselves out.

In previous articles I have stated that the NSCN (IM) was corrupt and violent, and in fact the main factor in the corruption and violence of Nagaland and Manipur. I stand on that statement. And I add this. The organization is not only corrupt and violent, but would not hesitate to lie to the Naga people to maintain the illusion that they are fighting for Nagalim and sovereignty, because if it ever admitted that it has never had the power to accomplish those goals for the Naga people, it might very well lose its power. After all, it would become clear to the Naga people that the NSCN (IM) has been “taxing” the Nagas, and doing much else to injure the Naga people, under false pretenses.

In the Eastern Mirror of August 4, 2015, in column seven, it states, “The details of the historic peace accord signed on Monday between the government and the National Council of Nagalan-IM will be made public soon, a top official from the Prime Minister’s Office said.

“‘The finer details of the text of the agreement will come out shortly,’ the PMO official told IANS on condition of anonymity.”

“Shortly,” will never come unless the NSCN (IM) is exposed for its misrepresentations and others take over the negotiations and pursue them with the goal of getting for the Naga people what is possible, that is, realistic, and not continuing to pursue what is, and always has been, an illusion.

Robert A Silverstein
Albany, New York
USA
rsilverstein@nycap.rr.com