KOHIMA, 12 Sep: Participants of the consultative meeting on the decades-old Naga political issue convened by the Nagaland government on Thursday urged the Naga groups having parallel talks with the Centre to unite and approach it with a “single document” for a solution.
During the deliberations, the stakeholders held the view that the two groups holding dialogue with the Centre – the NSCN-IM and the Working Committee of Naga National Political Groups (WC, NNPGs) – should try to have a single document and approach the union government, so that there is no confusion over the solution, state government spokesperson KG Kenye told reporters.
Kenye, who is also the state Power and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, said that the meeting saw the participation of all stakeholders, including tribal hohos, representatives from the civil society, mass-based organisations, church bodies, NGOs, gazetted officers’ unions, student bodies, and political parties, among others.
The gathering provided a platform for deliberations, expression of opinions, and an open forum for all participants to share their perspectives on the Naga political issue and concluded by adopting a four-point resolution.
After thorough discussions, the meeting unanimously expressed appreciation for the negotiating parties – the Centre and the Naga political groups – for continuing to uphold the principles of the ceasefire agreements and ensuring that there is no breakdown of the talks despite facing several challenges and hurdles in the past two decades.
“The participants appealed to the Centre to elevate the ongoing dialogue and peace process to the highest political level by appointing an interlocutor of political level or ministerial level, who has the confidence and mandate of the government,” the minister said, adding that the copy of the resolution adopted would also be sent to the union government.
Expressing concern over the increasing number of Naga underground groups, the meeting resolved to appeal to all Naga political groups to refrain from any further factionalism, the formation of breakaway groups, or the creation of new organisations, he said.
The meeting also appealed to all sections of the Naga society to make further efforts towards strengthening unity and oneness in order to bring all stakeholders of the peace process under a spirit of understanding, Kenye said.
The Centre and the Naga political groups entered into a ceasefire in 1997, and held separate talks with different groups for a solution to the decades-old 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 WC NNPGs in 2017.
In October 2019, the then interlocutor of the Centre for Naga peace talks and Nagaland Governor RN Ravi declared that talks had concluded.
However, the Centre has not accepted the NSCN-IM’s persistent demand for a separate flag and constitution for the Nagas.
Kenye maintained that, since the formation of the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) of the Neiphiu Rio-led government, it was felt necessary to put the Naga political issue before the people on what should be done as nothing has yielded out of the talks between the Naga groups and the Centre so far.
This was the first of such consultative meetings with the stakeholders and more such meetings will be held to deliberate on the two Naga political agreements, he said.
“We are anxious as we cannot keep on waiting for a solution,” said Kenye, adding that during the day’s meeting, stakeholders made several presentations and also submitted many documents, which PAC and the government will take some time to study before the next meeting. (PTI)