After adopting a resolution on their demand of separate flag and constitution (Yehzabo), the Isak-Muivah led National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM) on Tuesday signalled to the central government that the ball was now in its court on the matter.
The most influential Naga rebel group held an emergency national council meeting at their headquarters in Camp Hebron Church near Dimapur to reach a final agreement on two core demands.
Numerous leaders from the civil and military wings, as well as the Tatar (members of the NSCN-IM’s government) were present for the meeting. The group drafted a resolution stating that without the Naga flag and constitution, there will be no negotiation with the Centre.
After a five-hour meeting, the rebel group said it will not compromise on the flag and constitution.
During the meeting, NSCN-IM chairperson Q Tuccu delivered a three-page speech saying, “Today, the hour of reckoning has come. This is the moment of truth we have to face. Hundreds of thousands have given their lives for the freedom of Nagas, and responsibility is on our shoulders to fulfil their prayers and dreams for an honourable political settlement that sees the Naga national flag flying high.”
He further said, “We have to prove ourselves… before the Naga people, the frontline torch-bearers of Naga political movement shall stand the ground until the last man standing in defence of our… rights.”
Tuccu also said after seven decades of the “freedom movement”, the group had been compelled to call for this national assembly to reaffirm its stand before the central government. “How can we forfeit the Naga national flag and constitution in the name of a political solution? What belongs to us, that defines our political identity can never be compromised for the sweet morsel in the name of Naga political settlement. We cannot be made a laughing stock before the world by tamely succumbing to pressure or temptation,” he said.
The NSCN-IM and the Centre had signed a historic framework agreement on August 3, 2015, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the then home minister Rajnath Singh in Delhi.
Recalling the agreement at the meeting, Tuccu said, “We signed the historic framework agreement with deep political insight, taking into consideration the Naga people’s sovereign rights and dignity. We have applied our historical and political intuition while signing the agreement. Unfortunately, there are forces at work who are trying to undermine its political significance…”
He said the sovereign identity of the Nagas was prominently reflected in the framework agreement. “The past record of political agreements with India has given us bitter lessons and we have to stand guard against any Naga accord that betrayed our rights and national identity,” he added.
“This is, therefore, the momentous occasion that will decide the future of the Naga nation for years to come. So, let us take into conscious account every single word that we have to deliberate today. No turning away from the stand we have to take today. Let us, however, believe that ‘we shall overcome someday’.”
Last Saturday on May 28, the core committee of the parliamentary committee on Naga political issue (CCoNPI) and NSCN-IM had said it wanted the support of Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to continue the negotiation process. A four-hour meeting had been held at Dimapur between the delegation and Nagaland Chief Minister Nephio Rio and NSCN-IM delegation led by senior leader VS Atem. In that meeting, the CCoNPI urged the NSCN-IM to continue the negotiations with the Centre.
The CCoNPI is also likely to apprise the Assam chief minister, who is also the convener of the North East Democratic Alliance, on the outcome of the meeting so as to take it up with the Centre. “We discussed the need for the support of Himanta Biswa Sarma. It is better that someone can speak for both the Centre and even the Naga people,” said Neiba Kronu, a CCoNPI member, adding, “we are hopeful that through a very good understanding, we may bring a solution as early as possible.”
On the insistence by the NSCN-IM that the framework agreement should be inclusive of the flag and constitution, Kronu said the CCoNPI will discuss it with the Centre.
The Naga National Political Groups, the umbrella body of seven Naga rebel groups led by N Kitovi Zhimomi, is also strongly in favour of an early signing of a peace pact to resolve the state’s decades-old insurgency and political problem. The groups had signed “agreed position” with the Centre on November 17, 2017.
The Naga peace talks were put on the fast-track in the last one month as the Nagaland assembly elections are scheduled in February-March 2023.
After India’s independence, Naga leaders have tried asserting their own freedom. In 1975, the separatist Naga National Council (NNC) gave up violence and signed the Shillong Accord with the Centre. Some of the NNC leaders disapproved of this peace treaty, including Isak Chishi Swi, Thuingaleng Muivah and SS Khaplang. These leaders formed the NSCN as a new separatist organisation on January 31, 1980, which has been described as a breakaway group of the NNC.
The NSCN started an underground Naga federal government with civil and military wings. Later, a disagreement surfaced within the outfit over the issue of commencing a dialogue with the Indian government. On April 30, 1988, the NSCN split into two factions: the NSCN-K led by Khaplang, and the NSCN-IM, led by Isak Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah.
The split was accompanied by a spate of violence and clashes between the factions. In 1997, a ceasefire agreement was made between the NSCN-IM and the government. Later, the NSCN-K abrogated the ceasefire agreement.
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