The March Towards Progress

Last October, people waited with bated breath for the outcome of the protracted Naga political issue, as the Centre set a deadline to conclude the Indo-Naga peace talks that began in 1997. A series of talks that took place between the representatives of Indian government and the Naga political groups in the days leading up to the October 31st deadline was said to have ended on a positive note. People welcomed the outcome of the talks, which came more than four years after the government of India and the NSCN (IM) signed the “historic” Peace Accord/Framework Agreement (FA), and nearly two years after the signing of a preamble with the NNPG. The solution appeared to be so near but, thus far, a final settlement is still elusive due to disagreements between the groups on final details.

It was earlier believed that the creation of Nagaland state would solve all insurgency-related problems, as per the word of the then advisors of the then prime minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru. However, the Naga issue persisted and thus the GoI had to sign another ceasefire agreement with the Naga National Council (NNC) in 1964, haedly a year after statehood was given, which speaks volumes about the complexity of the issue. Similarly, the GoI and the NSCN signed a ceasefire agreement in 1997 in an attempt to solve the issue amicably through talks. After over a hundred rounds of peace talks, the framework agreement that was signed on August 3, 2015 was said to entail a mechanism to guarantee preservation of Naga identity and culture by creating Naga territorial regional councils within the adjoining states with Naga populations, increased seats in parliament and financial grants amongst other details. But, these are but hushed whisperings of what the FA entails; the details of the preamble signed with the NNGP too are still not made public. There has been no thorough consultation with the public from either side as far as the exact contents of the said agreements are concerned. The two million people of Nagaland and the Nagas outside of Nagaland have been left out of the equation.

Despite all progress, we face yet another stalemate today in the path to peace with the NSCN (IM) accusing the Centre’s interlocutor for Naga Peace talks and Governor of Nagaland RN Ravi of mishandling the Naga political issue and the latter stating that ‘vested interests’ were misappropriating the dividends of peace and not allowing them to reach the people. There are also several other issues, including the state government’s order, asking its employees to self-declare their relations, if any, with those serving in Naga insurgency groups. Perhaps, what is missing in this equation of peace are the real stakeholders - the public. It is time the public come to the forefront of the agreement and make an earnest and combined appeal to conclude the talks. At present, the Nagas are a divided house; there are too many players at all levels confusing the general public and an air of scepticism shrouds the much-awaited final solution. This confusion needs to be cleared once and for all. Further, alarmist views of equating the Naga issue to that of Jammu and Kashmir is unwarranted and must be avoided as they aren’t the same -- the Naga’s demand as of now is not separatism unlike before. Recent indications show that the negotiating groups were inching towards a meeting point. Now, all that is required to break the impasse is the political will from the negotiating groups. The oft-repeated term -honourable solution- is not a cliché but a pre-requisite if the impending settlement is to be the beginning of the end of this imbroglio.