Nagas have sovereign power under August pact

Centre agrees to give land, resources to Nagas

More than four months after the Centre and the NSCN(IM) signed the August 3 framework agreement of the Indo-Naga peace process, which has set the tone for the possible final deal of the 18-year-long peace parleys, the NSCN(IM) has for the first time come on record to shed light on the details of the agreement.

The NSCN(IM), in a statement on Thursday, claimed that through the agreement, New Delhi has agreed that the Nagas will have the right to exercise their “sovereign power” over their “territories”.

The silence of the NSCN(IM), the Centre and even the Nagaland government had earlier created lot of concern inside Nagaland and other parts of North -East.

“The ‘framework agreement’ is based on the uniqueness of Naga history, which means Nagas are a free people and they have never been a part of Union of India or Burma or any other power either by conquest or consent. Both the parties agreed that sovereignty, according to the universal principle of democracy, lies with the people, not government or monarch. And that sovereignty of the Nagas lies with the Naga people and sovereignty of India lies with the Indian people. However, with a view to resolving the Indo-Naga political problem both the parties agreed to share sovereign power for an enduring and peaceful co-existence of the two entities,” the joint council of the NSCN(IM) said in the statement.

The Centre has agreed that “the land and its resources of both below and above the earth totally belong to the Nagas”, the statement added.

The NSCN(IM) on Thursday admitted that they do not enjoy “total” support of all Naga communities but appealed the Nagas to unite “in the line of one’s people”. “Solution of the kind of national political issue is by nature, principle based, not majority-based”.

The NSCN(IM) also tried to show olive branch to the other naga armed factions to join the process claiming that their general Secretary Th Muivah was ready to include the other groups under the ambit of the framework agreement.