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Naga problem : Reshuffle in NSCN ahead of May talks |
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Just weeks before the crucial round of talks between the Centre and the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah), the outfit has effected a major reshuffle in its ranks.
R. Raising who was designated as “Home Minister” in the NSCN(IM) hierarchy, has been elevated to the rank of secretary of the outfit’s powerful steering committee. He is likely to be part of the NSCN entourage during negotiations in Amsterdam in the first two weeks of May, the sources said.
Senior leaders of the outfit - V.S. Atem and Angelus Shimray - will also be part of the NSCN delegation from Nagaland. The outfit’s general secretary, Thuingaleng Muivah, had recently said he hoped that “substantive progress” would be achieved in this round of talks. The NSCN (I-M) has been threatening to abrogate the ceasefire if its prime demand of integration of contiguous Naga-inhabited areas is not met.
Naga cops fear fresh rebel clash
Meanwhile, intermittent clashes between the Khaplang and the Isak-Muivah factions of the NSCN have left the district administration of Mon and Longleng at the end of their wits.
Movement of rebels of both factions in Tizit and Wakching areas of Mon district over the past two days has raised apprehensions of yet another factional feud in the area.
“In the past few months, the tension has increased. Instead of the earlier domination of the NSCN (I-M), now there are the Federal Government of Nagaland (FGN) and Khaplang groups jostling for space as well,” said a police official.
The newly-formed district of Longleng lacks even the basic infrastructure required to counter insurgency.
There is only one company each of the Nagaland Armed Police and the Assam Rifles, which has proved grossly inadequate to control militant activity, including extortion sprees.
Earlier, Longleng was part of Tuensang district. The Phom tribe-dominated district has “no power for six months and telephone lines are functional only for one day each month”. Police sources said it takes three days for wireless communication to reach the destination.
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