The Hindu : National : Naga leaders set conditions for extension of ceasefire

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jul 28, 2007
ePaper

National

National

Naga leaders set conditions for extension of ceasefire

Sushanta Talukdar

— Photo: Ritu Raj Konwar

Vital talks: NSCN (I-M) president Isak Chishi Swu arrives for the People’s Consultative Meeting in Hebron, 40 km from Dimapur, on Friday.

Hebron: Leaders of Naga civil society groups on Friday urged the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) not to agree to an extension of the ceasefire if the Centre did not show commitment and come out with concrete solutions during the next round of peace talks.

The talks, scheduled for July 30-31, are to be held at Dimapur. The ceasefire will expire on July 31. This is the first time that the talks between the Centre and the NSCN (I-M), which have been going on for 10 years, will be held in Nagaland.

Speaking at the sixth Naga People’s Consultative Meeting held at the fortified Council Headquarters here, civil society leaders expressed the view that there was no point in extending the ceasefire if New Delhi failed to show commitment. Also, if the ceasefire was extended, it should cover all Naga-inhabited areas, including in Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. Over 5,000 delegates, representing the tribal Hohos (apex tribal councils), village chiefs, churches from Naga-inhabited areas in Myanmar, Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, attended the crucial meeting. Members of the self-styled “Naga army” in battle fatigues thoroughly searched and frisked the delegates before allowing them inside the meeting venue, about 40 km from Dimapur.

Earlier, addressing the meeting, NSCN (I-M) president Isak Chisi Swu said the meeting had been organised to seek the people’s mandate on whether or not to extend the ceasefire.

Both Mr. Swu and Mr. Muivah spoke in a mix of Nagamese and English.

Briefing the delegates on the talks with Delhi, Mr. Muivah, who is the “Ato Kilonser (Prime Minister) of the Government of the People’s Republic of Nagalim,” the parallel government run by the NSCN (I-M), said though the Centre had admitted to the “uniqueness of the Naga history and Naga rights, after patient persuasion by the NSCN (I-M) over the past 10 years, the hardliners in Delhi are still trying to talk about finding a solution within the framework of the Indian Constitution, which can never be acceptable to us.”

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National