The Naga Rising calls for ‘people’s platform’ to break peace talk deadlock

DIMAPUR — In anticipation of a crucial government-led consultation on the Naga political issue, civil society group The Naga Rising (TNR) has issued a public call for the formation of a “People’s Platform” to mediate between the Indian government and Naga political groups (NPGs) towards the signing of a single agreement.

The group’s statement, released on Wednesday, urged those attending the September 12 meeting to “move beyond the practice of passing resolutions and instead frame a collective response that presents a clear plan of action.”

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The meeting will bring together representatives of various organisations from across Nagaland and “we remain hopeful that the collective wisdom generated from this meeting will show us the path to move forward”, it said.

Citing the need for an “honourable” solution as repeatedly assured by the Government of India (GoI) since the peace talks began 25 years ago, TNR stressed that the peace process should be expedited to align with the aspirations of the Naga people.

“Negotiations must be based on a ‘give and take’ approach and any agreement signed must be mutually acceptable to both the GoI and the Naga Political Groups (NPGs) and it cannot be imposed,” it said.

It also expressed support for the GoI’s purported assertion that “there is only one peace process, which is inclusive and that eventually there will be only one agreement as we cannot fragment the Naga issue.”

Further, the NPGs must take a common position/approach on the peace process leaving aside their intractable differences, it said.

To break the current impasse in the peace process, TNR proposed a “people’s platform” composed of representatives from diverse segments of Naga society. This platform, they argue, would have the mandate to mediate effectively between the Indian government and NPGs, fostering dialogue and helping to steer the peace process toward a single, unified agreement.