KOHIMA, 10 Sep: The Nagaland government has convened a meeting of ministers, MPs and other stakeholders on Thursday to deliberate on the longstanding Naga political issue, an official notification said.
It is scheduled to take place at the chief minister’s residence here at 10 am.
The chief minister, the deputy chief ministers, the assembly speaker, state MPs and all the legislators will be present at the meeting, the notification said.
The state government has also urged the president and two representatives from the Central Nagaland Tribes Council, the Eastern Nagaland Peoples’ Organisation, the Tenyimi Union Nagaland, and the Naga Students’ Federation, among other organisations, to attend the meeting.
The Political Affairs Committee (PAC) of Nagaland, comprising legislators and parliamentarians of the state, had on 28 August discussed the vexed issue, and decided to hold consultative meetings with the apex tribal bodies and civil society organisations, an official said.
The PAC is headed by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio.
Resolution of the decades-long Naga political issue is the top priority of the state government, and public consultative meetings will be held to deliberate on the way forward for an early solution, the official said.
The Government of India and Naga political groups entered into a ceasefire in 1997, and held separate talks with different groups for a solution to the decades-long political problem.
After almost 70 rounds of talks, the Centre entered into a framework agreement with the NSCN-IM in 2015, and also signed the agreed position with the Working Committee of Naga National Political Groups in 2017.
In October 2019, the then Centre’s interlocutor for Naga peace talks and governor of Nagaland RN Ravi had declared that talks had concluded.
However, the Centre has not accepted the NSCN-IM’s persistent demand for a separate flag and constitution of the Nagas. (PTI)
