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North East: Naga peace process : NSCN (IM) for “neutral” Nagalim

	January 10, 2005

The Naga militant faction NSCN (Isak-Muivah) has said it intends to make the

proposed Naga homeland, Nagalim (Greater Nagaland), a buffer State by pursuing a “neutral-zone policy”.



The outfit’s self-styled Home Minister Rh. Raising, said this on January 5 during a speech at a meeting held at Camp Hebron. Sources close to the NSCN (I-M) said what the insurgent leader meant was to make Nagalim a buffer State between India and its eastern neighbours.



The NSCN(IM) looks to China for inspiration. “It was during Mao Zedong and Chou-en-Lai that China, the `sick man of Asia’, was brought to the stage where it is today,” Raising said.



The meeting re-elected Chairman Isak Chishi Swu, General Secretary Thuingaleng Muivah and Vice President Khodao Yanthan.



Various units of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) gave the fresh mandate to their leaders ending speculation about the possibility of at least the last named leader being replaced. According to NSCN(IM) sources, representatives of all its units based in Nagaland, Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh were unanimous in their support of Swu, Muivah and Yanthan.

Doubts over whether Yanthan should be retained in view of his health problems were laid to rest by senior leaders V.S. Atem and A.Z. Jami, who met the outfit’s vice-president at his home in Lakhuti village of Wokha district recently.



Atem is the collective leadership’s emissary for negotiations with Delhi, while Jami is a member of the NSCN (I-M) steering committee. Swu and Muivah, too, wanted to meet Yanthan, but were preoccupied with “consultative meetings”, he said.



Preparations for talks with Centre

Almost all HoHo (tribal council) leaders met the two insurgent leaders over the past couple of weeks.



“The collective leadership told us that we have to reach a settlement (with Delhi) fast. They also said the Nagas need to understand that the world has changed. We are sure something positive will come about by January 20.”

Another round of meetings with the HoHo are slated for January 20-21, after which the Swu-Muivah duo will leave for New Delhi to resume talks with the Centre.



The peace committee of the Nagaland Baptist Church Council, led by Rev. L. Kari, met the rebel leaders on Jan. 3 The Church has been playing an active role in the campaign to unite the warring insurgent factions, mainly the NSCN (I-M) and the Khaplang group.



NSCN (IM) rival’s attempt to rock peace boat

One of the NSCN (Isak-Muivah)’s main rivals, Naga National Council (Adinno faction) has described the ongoing peace process as an “Indian government project” with nothing in it for the Naga community. Its self-styled leader, Adinno Phizo, said in a statement from her base in London that the NSCN (I-M)’s slogan for “Nagalim”- a homeland encompassing all Naga-inhabited areas of the region - was an absurd one. She said NSCN (I-M) general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah and chairman Isak Chishi Swu’s were visiting India as “guests of the Ministry of Home Affairs” rather than as Naga leaders.



Friction between the two groups intensified when a senior NNC member was found murdered two days after the NSCN (I-M) leaders arrived in Nagaland. NSCN (I-M) activists had allegedly abducted the victim, Besulhu Tetseo, and another NNC functionary.



Adinno accused the NSCN (I-M) of being responsible for the “death of thousands of Naga civilians as well as non-Nagas”.



However, sources in the NSCN (I-M) said the outfit would not react to every such allegation in the interest of the peace process. The Swu-Muivah duo has already signalled a change in strategy by talking of Naga unity more than ever before.



The NSCN (I-M) has been insisting on the integration of all contiguous Naga-inhabited areas, including Tirap and Changlang districts of Arunachal Pradesh, the four hill districts of Manipur and parts of the North Cachar Hills and Karbi Anglong districts of Assam.