Vexed Naga peace process under strain again.

Aug 4, 2020

Kohima: The vexed Naga peace process is under strain again. Recent happenings in Nagaland suggest that the country’s longest surviving insurgency struggle for self-determination is again getting caught in a quagmire which may further lengthen the process of finding a lasting solution.

A government directive issued earlier this month that all officials should declare if any of their relative was working for underground organizations adding to that the state Governor, R N Ravi’s assertion that law and order has collapsed in the state has once again opened the fault lines.

The framework agreement signed between the Centre and insurgent outfit NSCN (IM) in 2015 which was termed “historic” by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised feelings of peaceful settlements that time but five years down the line, the terms of the agreement are still under wraps.

Coming back to the present time, the state government order that all officials should declare if any of their relatives was working for underground groups was issued was on the order of the governor, R N Ravi.

The NSCN (I-M), the most powerful rebel group in the state, suspects that the government with this move wants to delegitimize the Naga struggle and reduce the political cause to a mere law and order problem.

“Peace talks will continue but Governance has to go on… and the governor has every right to talk on law and order. Talks can’t be limited to a timeframe…. Government can’t do what NSCM (IM) wants it to do…. It has to fortify itself…. Underground is a known fact in Nagaland…but government has to know the links to verify where the loyalty is,” G M Srivastava, Former DGP of Assam and strategic expert said.

The governor’s directive has evoked a sharp response from every quarter of Naga community which forced the elected Neiphu Rio government to reject the statement asserting that the governor’s observations do not appear to be factual”.

Secondly, the killing of six active cadres of NSCN (IM) by Indian security forces in Arunachal Pradesh bordering China has further vitiated the peace atmosphere between New Delhi and NSCN (IM).

The insurgent group in statement had said it is outrageous for Indian Security Forces to vent their frustration at their humiliating encounter with Chinese PLA by targeting the Naga Army.

The group alleged this is the repeat of another state sponsored terrorism against the ceasefire party.

This is the work of India, the world largest democracy which wanted to make Indo-Naga Ceasefire as the killing field to force its will on the Naga people.

On the other hand, time and again NSCN (IM) has been accused of running a parallel government collecting tax from the people of Nagaland as the outfit portrays itself as a freedom fighter group of Naga society. However, factionalism within the group over the purpose and end result of what they call as freedom struggle has gone through a sea change in the last five decades. The secessionist movement which started a day before India attained independence.

The main goal of the Naga movement has been the integration of Naga-inhabited areas of India and Myanmar. It is alleged that the formation of Nagaland as a separate state is ‘a measure of counter-insurgency’ to divide the Nagas since a large number of them live outside the state. Over the years, the movement has also undergone several changes in which the situation of conflict deepened whenever the government intervened.

The demand for Greater Nagalim which includes parts of Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh has been vehemently opposed by other states and has witnessed violent repercussions forcing the government to step back.

But a ray of hope emerged when a framework agreement was signed in 2015 between NSCN (IM0 top leadership and centre. Five years down the line both sides still need to iron out issues to solve the vexed problem for a long lasting peace in Nagaland.

–India News Stream