Separate flag for Nagas cause war of words before final agreement

The seperate flag for the Nagas or the Naga national flag has become a contention in reaching a final agreement to solve the decades-old Naga "political conflict," the Naga rebel group NSCN (IM) said while slamming the Centre's interlocutor RN Ravi's role since he was appointed as Nagaland Governor.

"The NSCN is ready for an acceptable and honourable political solution based on the Framework Agreement signed in 2015. The issue of flag and constitution is not a deviation from that agreement and the Pan Naga Hoho (a social body of Nagas) is the official proposal of the Government of India. On several occasions during the political talks the representative of the government had proposed that the Naga flag be used in the PNH, but the NSCN had turned it down stating the Naga National Flag should be with the Naga government and not a social or cultural body," the rebel group said in a statement emailed to DH on Monday evening.

The statement was issued as a counter to Ravi's statement on February 28 that the NSCN (IM) was deviating from the contents of the Framework Agreement, 2015 by emphasising on the flag, Constitution and intergration of the Naga-inhibited areas.

Stating that the framework agreement had agreed for "shared sovereignty," the NSCN claimed that both the parties mutually agreed and concluded that the political power of a government including, legislative, executive and judiciary, shall be with the Naga government. "The agreement shall cover all Naga areas. The Naga government shall exercise its powers on the mutually agreed competencies and amongst others the Naga government shall have a separate budget, responsible for internal security. The contentious issue is the Naga National Flag.

The Anthem, Emblem and Insignia are already agreed by the Government of India," it said. Most Naga groups including the NSCN (IM) claim that Nagas were never part of India and had lived as seperate entity before the British. Nagaland had seen large scale violence since they declared Independence on August 14, 1947.

The outfit, however, is in ceasefire since 1997 and signed the framework agreement in August 2015 months after Narendra Modi government came to power. The Centre in October last year had concluded negotiations with Naga groups including NSCN and Naga National Political Group (NNPG), a forum of seven other rebel groups and is expected to ink the final agreement soon to end the decades-long conflict.

"The representative of the GoI (RN Ravi) after his appointment as the Governor of Nagaland is visibly dealing the Indo-Naga political talks within India’s law and order subject. The Ministry of Home affairs and its agencies including the NIA and the Assam Rifles have become extremely active after his arrival to Nagaland as the Governor. His policy of scheming and conniving with the so called NNPG and mobilising some tribes from so salled Nagaland state and excluding the main stakeholders of the Naga society including the Naga Hoho, Naga Mothers Association, Naga Student Federation and Naga People’s Movement for Human Rights is clearly against the spirit of a Naga Solution, which the NSCN and the Naga people are striving for. His misinterpretation of the already agreed competencies including the PNH and integration has come as a shock to the NSCN and the Naga people," it said.

"The Naga people and the NSCN are ready if the final political solution is acceptable and honourable to the Naga people. However, the political dialogue can be derailed if he is allowed to act recklessly and if the latter is made to function with impunity," it said.

The war of words between Ravi and NSCN (IM) ahead of signing the final agreement left many wondering if the process to end the country's longest conflict could remain inconclusive.