Rebel Naga groups favour 'unification' amid call for final agreement to end conflict

NSCN-IM and NNPGs, the insurgent groups in ceasefire, have agreed to set up a council to explore “realistic ways for the Nagas” as the call for signing the “final agreement” to end the seven-decades old conflict grows in the poll-bound Nagaland.

Leaders of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM) and Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs)—the forum of six other insurgent groups—took the decision during the October 17-18 meeting in Kolkata. The meeting was convened under the initiative of Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR).

“Taking forward the September Joint Accordant resolve to chart a path forward, we have agreed to form a council of Naga Relationships and Cooperation led by convenor of NNPGs and Chairman of NSCN to explore, at the earliest, realistic ways for the Nagas to move forward on the basis of Naga historical and political rights,” said the joint statement signed by N Kitovi Zhimoni, Convenor of NNPGs, and Tongmeth Wangnao, vice-president of NSCN-IM.

Naga groups including the NSCN-IM claims that Nagas were never part of India and had even declared “Independence” soon after the British left the country. This was followed by years of conflict till the NSCN-IM signed a ceasefire with the government in 1997.

In the past, the NSCN-IM and NNPGs had engaged in conflicts and blame-games regarding the ongoing talks with the Centre, to end the long Naga conflict.

Both the NSCN-IM and NNPGs had separately signed preliminary agreements, in 2015 and 2017 respectively, but the process to sign the “final agreement” has remained stalled, mainly due to NSCN-IM’s insistence for a separate flag and Constitution for the Nagas.

The NNPGs, however, do not insist on it.

According to the joint statement, the Kolkata meeting was convened in response to Naga people’s yearning for reconciliation and unity. Many in Nagaland, including Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, have stated recently that they are in favour of signing of the “final agreement” before the Assembly elections slated early next year.

“Understanding the urgency to rise above our present condition, the NNPGs and NSCN are committing themselves to the values of truth, forgiveness, justice and peace as the discerning power to help us choose a shared future over the divisions of the past. We urge the Naga public to jointly participate and support this process of shaping and building this future together,” the statement read.

The meeting has been crucial as it comes just days before the next round of talks between the NSCN-IM and the Union government in New Delhi on the issue of separate flag and Constitution.