Time of The Essence For Naga Peace

By JB Lama

Into his second term in office, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is bent on finding a solution to the lingering Naga problem.

One might recall how, during Singh’s earlier tenure, the NSCN(IM) leadership had, in July 2004, told its cadres to be ready to leave their designated camps because it had refused to renew the ceasefire accord in protest against the UPA’s clause in its Common Minimum Programme ~ that boundaries of Northeast states would not be changed ~ that implied a rejection of the outfit’s demand for one administrative unit for Nagas. The UPA was then forced to drop the clause.

The Prime Minister started in earnest by inviting NSCN(IM) general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah to discuss the latter’s 30-point charter of demands submitted earlier that included sovereignty and a “Greater Nagaland”. In February this year Muivah met the Prime Minister and Union home minister P Chidambaram and later held talks with the Centre’s new interlocutor, RS Pandey, breaking a year’s silence.

The Centre submitted a comprehensive 29-point counter-proposal and both sides struck positive attitudes. Since then, talks have been held in fits and starts and whether there will be any breakthrough is anybody’s guess.

Some public utterances by Central leaders have been anything but conciliatory. At his first meeting with Muivah, Pandey reportedly told him there was little possibility of New Delhi ever agreeing to the “sovereignty” demand. Union home secretary GK Pillai has also made it known that “the territorial integrity of Manipur will not be disturbed under any circumstances”.

On 19 August 2010, Chidambaram told Parliament there was no question of  altering Manipur’s integrity and cited the pluralistic nature of Indian states. The Manipur-based United Naga Council, which enjoys NSCN(M) support, promptly asserted that Nagas in Manipur would decide their own future and Chidambaram had no say in this matter. Muivah, on his part, is not known to have reacted to this so far.

But last year when Chidambaram told the NSCN(IM) to present its proposals within the Constitution, that outfit described it as a total betrayal of the Nagas.

It recalled the commitments made by BJP Prime Minister AB Vajpayee, who took cognizance of the Nagas’ unique history and said this had to be taken into account while tackling the Indo-Naga political conflict.

The NSCN(IM) said Chidambaram’s utterances only reflected his immaturity and lack of understanding of the situation. What will follow is fairly obvious, with the outfit not ever likely to mellow.

This sticky point continues to be the drive behind the NSCN(IM)’s insistence on the integration of all Naga-inhabited areas. The Manipur government’s determination to not allow Muivah to visit his Somdal birthplace in Ukhrul district last May leaves no one in doubt that Manipuri's will never agree to losing any territory.

And last month when suspected NSCN(IM) cadres based in Arunachal Pradesh torched some huts in Assam’s Sivasagar district, the All Assam Students’ Union displayed exemplary unity with the state authorities to contain such mischief. This apart, a pro-talks Ulfa leader even offered the services of his cadres to fight the “border marauders”.

It is becoming increasingly clear that unless there is a serious quest for a compromise or face-saving formula, the cloud of uncertainty hanging over the 13-year-old Naga peace process is unlikely to dissipate. And the more time wasted, the more intractable the problem is likely to be.