Twenty-seven years after agreeing to a ceasefire, the Isak-Muivah faction of the Nationwide Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM) has issued an an ultimatum to the Union authorities threatening to “resume the violent armed resistance in opposition to India” if the Centre didn’t “honour” the 2015 Framework Settlement signed by the 2 events to resolve the Naga political drawback.
In a five-page assertion signed by its normal secretary Thuingaleng Muivah, the rebel group, which first signed a ceasefire with the Indian authorities in 1997, mentioned “we rule out peaceable means in opposition to the ignominious betrayal of the letter and spirit of the Framework Settlement of August 3, 2015”.
This comes after a number of rounds of talks between NSCN (IM) leaders – however not 90-year-old Muivah himself – and the Centre’s interlocutor A.Ok. Mishra in Delhi final month. It additionally comes at a time when the central authorities can also be holding parallel talks with Naga Nationwide Political Teams (NNPGs), an umbrella physique of seven Naga organisations excluding the NSCN (IM).
Final week, the NNPGs urged the Centre to finalise a Naga accord this yr itself based mostly on a separate “Agreed Place” signed with them in 2017.
An obvious deadlock over the query of a separate Naga flag and structure is among the sticking factors within the negotiation between the NSCN I(M) and Union Authorities. Though issuing his ultimatum, Muivah recommended that he was nonetheless leaving the window open, proposing “third occasion intervention” as a ultimate step.
“Nonetheless, within the first place, we suggest a third-party intervention to resolve the betrayal of the letter and spirit of the Framework Settlement of August 3, 2015 but when such a political initiative is rejected by the GOI, the NSCN shall resume the violent armed resistance in opposition to India for defending the Nagalim distinctive historical past and her sovereign existence,” reads the assertion.
In accordance with sources, the “third occasion” referred to within the assertion is being interpreted as a international mediator.
In his assertion, Muivah has maintained that the “letter and spirit” of the Framework Settlement formally recognised and acknowledged a sovereign Naga nationwide flag and Structure. Reiterating his held place {that a} political settlement on the Naga situation needs to be based mostly on the Framework Settlement – and the NSCN (IM)’s interpretation of it — Muivah mentioned: “Nagalim and the NSCN is not going to wait eternally for the GOI to respect and honor the letter and spirit of the Framework Settlement… neither lets anticipate the GOI to recognise and acknowledge Nagalim sovereign nationwide flag and Nagalim sovereign nationwide structure within the political settlement.”
Considerably, even after the NSCN (IM) and the Centre signed the Framework Settlement in 2015, an accord has but to be arrived at. Concurrently, the Centre additionally started parallel talks with the NNPGs and signed a separate “Agreed Place” for an accord with them in 2017.
