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Nagaland CM seeks status quo on border |
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Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio has said the State’s boundary dispute with Assam should be settled amicably and out of court. Replying to a supplementary question from former Chief Minister S.C. Jamir in the Assembly, Rio said that though the CRPF was deployed in the area as a neutral force, some villagers from Assam had settled there. This was in violation of the Supreme Court order asking both states to maintain status quo in the area.
Recalling his visit to the area earlier, Rio said that at least two meetings at the Chief Ministerial level had been convened to settle the issue. The chief secretaries and commissioners of the two states were holding discussions on the matter, he said. He also hit out at his Assam counterpart, Tarun Gogoi, for refusing to settle the matter out of court. “We wanted an amicable settlement, but the Assam Chief Minister insisted it should be settled by the Supreme Court,” he said. Assam had moved the apex court on the disputed boundary issue in 1988.
Jamir has, in the meanwhile, outlined a political framework as a possible solution for ending the Naga imbroglio, at the same time opposing central financing for rebel groups. Though the Nagas were living in the 21st century, it is difficult for underground leaders to give up their original demand for sovereignty, he said. “It is our responsibility to remove their burden,” Jamir said in the Assembly during the budget discussion. He said elected representatives should hold talks among themselves and design a political framework for the talks. Jamir said if the rebels were to accept financing from the Centre for sustenance, they would not be in a position to negotiate on the political problem.
In his budget speech, Finance Minister K. Therie had proposed peace expenses for rebels to put an end to their extortion campaign. Jamir called it a good suggestion but not a politically expedient one. The Congress leader reiterated his suggestion of a parliamentary committee of legislators who could discuss the integration issue with neighbouring states.
Jamir also demanded provisions for the Nagas in the Constitution that cannot be amended. He explained that if the previous National Democratic Alliance regime returned to power, it could ignore the Nagas. Hence a permanent non-amendable provision should be inserted in the Constitution, Jamir argued.
For the past several years, the former Chief Minister has been at loggerheads with the NSCN (I-M). Three NGOs, the Naga People’s Movement for Human Rights, the Naga Mothers’ Association and the Naga Students’ Federation, too, have come out openly against Jamir.
Meanwhile, Naga leaders belonging to civil society have cautioned that the ongoing peace process could flounder if the Centre did not clarify a few issues that are perceived as stumbling blocks in the resolution of the decades-old problem.
“The confusion on certain issues needs to be cleared up. Otherwise, there could be problems in the peace process, including the extension of ceasefire,” Neingulo Krome, spokesperson for the Naga Peoples’ Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR), said while briefing newsmen. He was referring to the demand for unification of all Naga-dominated areas in the Northeast which he described as a “non-negotiable issue.”
Though he stopped short of mentioning the NSCN (I-M), the spokesperson had in mind the extension of the ceasefire with the outfit which expires on July 31. The outfit has already expressed its displeasure over the statement in the common minimum programme (CMP) of the Congress-led UPA government that rules out territorial realignment of the north eastern states. This nullifies chances of creation of Greater Nagalim that entails bringing all Naga inhabited areas under the same administrative mechanism. Delegates said the CMP statement amounted to laying down a condition that was contrary to the norms evolved before the ceasefire came into effect in 1997.
The 11 delegates from Nagaland who have pitched tent in New Delhi for the past several days belong to the Naga Mothers’ Association (NMA), Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) besides the NPMHR. In their meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on June 26, they also made a case for the repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 which has been in operation in the State over the last few decades. Initiated seven years ago, the dialogue with the NSCN (I-M) received a boost when the NDA regime accepted the “unique history and situation of the Nagas” in Amsterdam in 2002.
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