Demand for solution to Naga conflict before Assembly polls grows in Nagaland

'Solution before the elections'

This is the demand gradually building up in Nagaland amid preparation for the Assembly elections slated next month.

After the Naga National Political Groups (NNPG), a forum of seven insurgent groups in ceasefire, the Opposition Congress has demanded that all 60 MLAs should resign and ask the Centre to sign the final agreement with the Naga groups to end the decades-old conflict before holding Assembly elections.

President of Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee, K. Therie said since NNPGs have already signed an agreement with the Centre in 2017 and the Centre has already made it clear that they would not meet other demands like "shared sovereignty" and integration of he Naga inhabited areas in the Northeast, the Centre should not wait for more negotiations.

"Enough is enough. If the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) government in Nagaland is really sincere about solving the Naga conflict, they should resign and ask the Centre to declare President's rule for signing the final agreement because there is nothing left for the Assembly to decide about it," Therie said on Friday.

Nagaland, at present, has an all-party government but Congress does not have an MLA. Although Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) and BJP formed the coalition government in 2018, the Opposition Naga People's Front joined the government, for passing a resolution for a final agreement to end the Naga conflict.

The NNPGs on Friday alleged that the state BJP adopted "an anti-solution" stance and was pushing for elections instead of signing the final agreement. "In 1988, Congress party went against the wishes of the Naga people and conducted elections. Today, Congress is nowhere and people of Nagaland have shown them the exit door," the NNPG said.

The Centre signed two preliminary agreements: one with NSCN (IM) in August 2015 and another with the NNPGs in 2017. The final agreement has not yet been signed mainly due to NSCN-IM's insistence on its demand for a separate flag and Constitution for the Nagas. The NNPGs, however, are not insisting on the same.