JOIN USWhile hope is setting in among the people that the August 3 agreement between the Centre and NSCN (IM) is good beginning towards ending hostilities in the insurgency-riddled Nagaland, the other Naga political factions have been left clueless.
While Camp Hebron, the council headquarters of NSCN(IM), has been in full public and media glare , strategy and review meetings are taking place at the headquarters of another “revolutionary government”.
A bumpy ride on stretch, 36 km away from Dimapur would take one to Khehoi, the Council and General headquarters of the NSCN(KK) , led by its President Gen(retd) Khole Konyak and general Secretary N Kitovi Zhimomi.
One of the largest factions of NSCN, Kitovi and Khole split from NSCN (K), led by Myanmar-based Burmese Naga SS Khaplang in 2011. With a strong following of nearly 10,000 active members including armed cadres, NSCN (KK) happens to be the largest NSCN faction having Nagas from Nagaland.
“We had to part ways with Khaplang since he would not come forward for reconciliation with other groups; Government of India was not in a position to talk to him because he was a foreigner. We have been in ceasefire ever since. We have had several rounds of informal talk with New Delhi. Government of India could not talk formally since one of the pre-conditions of NSCN(IM) talks was that while New Delhi talks to them, government of India cannot talk to other NSCN factions. We have waited. Now there is a situation. But if other Naga political groups are sidelined and a deal is done with only one, it cannot bring about a solution” C Singson Kuki, the Adviser to GPRN/NSCN told Deccan Herald.
Kitovi and Khole had been seen as “bridge builders” by the Ministry of Home Affairs, between different NSCN factions including the NSCN (IM). Khole, had recently said that the Naga’s right to govern themselves cannot be hijacked. It was on 29 February 2012, at Dimapur that the NSCN (IM); NSCN (KK) and the Naga National Council/Federal Government Nagaland (NNC/FGN) ratified resolutions of the Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR), which tried to bring all the major factions together.
“Has NSCN (IM) respected the resolutions? We can go on record to say during our consultation of the top leadership of all the factions, it was NSCN (IM) leadership who have been saying that Naga integration is not possible, let alone sovereignty. The fresh deal is a welcome step, but now they are claiming Naga integration is an agenda. This makes us doubtful again” said Alezo Venuh, the special Emissary of the Collective leadership of GPRN/NSCN.
“This gives New Delhi a great opportunity to talk to other groups who have more support base in Nagaland. After all the talks are in the name of Nagaland. It is acid test for intentions of Centre” another top NSCN (KK) commander added as he monitored routine drill of his armed cadres.