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Nagaland : NSCN dares Delhi to call off truce

	December 12, 2005

Delhi’s decision to keep its ‘options open on continuing the ceasefire with the NSCN (I-M)’ December 5 triggered a typically vitriolic outburst from the Naga militant group, which asked the government to spell out whether it wanted peace or confrontation.

Senior NSCN (I-M) functionary Phungting Shimrang claimed his organisation was not perturbed by Delhi’s veiled threat. ‘We have our options, too,’ he said.



The progress of the peace process was reviewed at a meeting of the Union Home Ministry last week. It was the second meeting on the Naga impasse in less than a month.



A source said after the second review meeting that the Army was pressuring Delhi to amend the truce rules to prevent both the Isak-Muivah and Khaplang groups of the NSCN from repeatedly getting away with violations.



Amid the war of words, Naga organisations reminded both sides that nobody would gain from a breakdown of the peace process. Urban Development Minister Shurhozelie Liezietsu said during a pre-Christmas celebration in Kohima that Nagas needed peace more than anything else.



Leaders of the Naga Hoho, Naga Students’ Federation and Naga Mothers’ Association echoed him.





Jamir picks faults in Naga talks



Goa governor and former Nagaland Chief Minister S.C. Jamir December 8 blamed the standoff in the Naga peace process on the negotiating sides’ inability to come up with a political framework.



Jamir said it was during his governance that the peace talks were initiated and the ceasefire agreement was signed. ‘A political framework should have been able to resolve the decades-old problem. But no tangible framework was worked out,’ he told reporters on the sidelines of a two-day seminar on higher education in the Northeast and Jammu and Kashmir that began in Kohima on December 8.



Believed to be against the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah), the former Chief Minister said he has forgiven those who tried to assassinate him.



On the ongoing violence, Jamir said it is high time the people of the state realised that killings are a thing of the past. ‘Look to the future,’ he said.



Earlier, in his inaugural address to 10 vice-chancellors of universities from the region, Jamir blamed insurgency for lack of development in the states, including Manipur and Nagaland.



Coming down heavily on extortion, intimidation and fear sparked by insurgent groups, the Governor said education cannot be pursued unless there is peace. Teachers, parents and students all are scared in this climate of hostility, Jamir said.



When teachers and even vice-chancellors are threatened by ‘some belligerent students’, how can there be free thinking, he asked.



Jamir said the definition of sovereignty and nationhood is changing and today, the strength of a nation depends not on its military might but on economic muscle.



He asked vice-chancellors of the region’s 12 universities to give a vision to the students of the future. ‘The vision should not come from political parties but from educational institutions,’ he said.



Vice-chancellor of Nagaland University, G.D. Sharma, delivered the welcome speech. The conference will discuss ways to improve higher education in the Northeast and Jammu and Kashmir. However, vice-chancellors from Jammu University and Kashmir University failed to turn up, making it an all-Northeast affair.





Change in NSCN-IM ranks



The National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) is all set to have a new vice-president.



Self-styled ‘General’ Thinoselie Keyho, an ‘old friend’ of both Isak Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah from their Naga National Council days, is likely to replace Khodao Yanthan.



The change is likely to give a fillip to the concept of integration of Naga-inhabited areas, particularly in Nagaland.

Thinoselie, who belongs to the Angami tribe, is said to command enough support to play a major role in uniting warring factions. He is at present in Bangkok and has already held meetings with Muivah.



He is also likely to play a major role in the forthcoming round of talks on December 16 where the Centre’s interlocutor K. Padmanabhaiah will participate.



Eleven NSCN (I-M) leaders will leave from Nagaland on December 13 to participate in the talks, sources said. The former NNC leader’s long years in solitude and silence ended when he met Swu and Muivah in December last year when the rebel leaders visited Nagaland. His inclusion at a decision-making position in the outfit ‘will build up unity’, sources in the outfit said.



For the NSCN (I-M), one of the priorities is to achieve total consensus on integration of all the Naga areas. The talk about new leadership has come at a time when the Centre and the NSCN (I-M) are pessimistic whether the ceasefire will continue.