ID :
28306
Tue, 11/04/2008 - 14:05
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/28306
The shortlink copeid
Unification of Naga areas to dominate NSCN(IM)-Govt talks
New Delhi, Nov 3 (PTI) Frustrated over the long delay in bringing a solution to the vexed Naga issue, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (N.S.C.N.-I.M.) is likely to seek firm commitment from the Centre over its demand for unification of Naga-inhabited areas at the peace talks scheduled to be held this month in the Netherlands.
N.S.C.N.(I.M.) chairman Isak Chishi Swu and general
secretary Thuingaleng Muivah are likely to make it clear
before a Group of Ministers headed by Oscar Fernandes that any
compromise on the issue will not be acceptable to the Naga
people.
"The issue is too hot, too sensitive," N.S.C.N.(I.M.)
spokesman Vikiye Sumi told P.T.I.
The N.S.C.N.-I.M. has been pressing for formation of a
'greater Nagalim' comprising all Naga-inhabited areas in the
northeast. However, this has been opposed by Assam, Manipur
and Arunachal Pradesh.
The peace talks will be held on the second week of
November in the Hague after a gap of nearly a year and are
being considered crucial as the rebels raised questions over
the government's sincerity in resolving the six-decade-old
Naga insurgency problem in the Northeast.
The meeting will also review progress made since the
N.S.C.N.(I.M.) submitted a 20-point charter of demands to the
Centre.
In this charter, the N.S.C.N.(I.M.) had sought separate
representation at the U.N. and greater rights over natural
resources, finance, defence and policing, besides unification
of Naga-inhabited areas.
In the last meeting, it was agreed to explore and discuss
N.S.C.N.-I.M.'s demand for a special federal relationship
between New Delhi and Nagaland that allows Nagas' self
governance and the issue will prominently figure in the
forthcoming dialogue, a senior rebel leader said.
A team of Naga leaders will also go to the Hague to take
part in the peace dialogue along with Swu and Muivah, who are
already abroad.
The government has held over 60 rounds of talks with the
N.S.C.N.-I.M. both in India as well abroad to find an amicable
solution to the Naga issue.
N.S.C.N.-I.M. and security forces in Nagaland have been
observing a truce since August 1997. The ceasefire has been
extended every 12 months since then except last year when it
was renewed for just six months at the insistence of the
rebels and further extended by another six months in February.
Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio last month had
requested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister
Shivraj Patil to expedite the peace process, noting that the
initial euphoria over Delhi's initiative towards resolving the
issue was now being replaced by "scepticism" in public mind.
Admitting that the dialogue process had reached a
stalemate, both sides held each other responsible for it.
Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes, Minister of State in the
Prime Minister's Office Prithviraj Chavan and former Union
home secretary K. Padmanabhaiah had hold talks with the Naga
leadership on several previous occasions. PTI ACB
N.S.C.N.(I.M.) chairman Isak Chishi Swu and general
secretary Thuingaleng Muivah are likely to make it clear
before a Group of Ministers headed by Oscar Fernandes that any
compromise on the issue will not be acceptable to the Naga
people.
"The issue is too hot, too sensitive," N.S.C.N.(I.M.)
spokesman Vikiye Sumi told P.T.I.
The N.S.C.N.-I.M. has been pressing for formation of a
'greater Nagalim' comprising all Naga-inhabited areas in the
northeast. However, this has been opposed by Assam, Manipur
and Arunachal Pradesh.
The peace talks will be held on the second week of
November in the Hague after a gap of nearly a year and are
being considered crucial as the rebels raised questions over
the government's sincerity in resolving the six-decade-old
Naga insurgency problem in the Northeast.
The meeting will also review progress made since the
N.S.C.N.(I.M.) submitted a 20-point charter of demands to the
Centre.
In this charter, the N.S.C.N.(I.M.) had sought separate
representation at the U.N. and greater rights over natural
resources, finance, defence and policing, besides unification
of Naga-inhabited areas.
In the last meeting, it was agreed to explore and discuss
N.S.C.N.-I.M.'s demand for a special federal relationship
between New Delhi and Nagaland that allows Nagas' self
governance and the issue will prominently figure in the
forthcoming dialogue, a senior rebel leader said.
A team of Naga leaders will also go to the Hague to take
part in the peace dialogue along with Swu and Muivah, who are
already abroad.
The government has held over 60 rounds of talks with the
N.S.C.N.-I.M. both in India as well abroad to find an amicable
solution to the Naga issue.
N.S.C.N.-I.M. and security forces in Nagaland have been
observing a truce since August 1997. The ceasefire has been
extended every 12 months since then except last year when it
was renewed for just six months at the insistence of the
rebels and further extended by another six months in February.
Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio last month had
requested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister
Shivraj Patil to expedite the peace process, noting that the
initial euphoria over Delhi's initiative towards resolving the
issue was now being replaced by "scepticism" in public mind.
Admitting that the dialogue process had reached a
stalemate, both sides held each other responsible for it.
Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes, Minister of State in the
Prime Minister's Office Prithviraj Chavan and former Union
home secretary K. Padmanabhaiah had hold talks with the Naga
leadership on several previous occasions. PTI ACB
