GUWAHATI: Miffed over the delay in the settlement of protracted “Naga political problem”, major Naga organisations boycotted consultations with Deputy National Security Advisor (NSA) R N Ravi who had visited Nagaland from February 26-27 to update the Nagas on the progress made in the Centre’s peace talks with the Naga rebel groups.
Accusing the Centre of playing with the Nagas, Nagaland’s apex tribal organisation, Naga Hoho, said it did not want to waste its time by holding meaningless consultations with Ravi, who is also the interlocutor in Naga peace talks.
“In our previous meetings, he (Ravi) had always told us that the peace talks covered all points and that there will be a comprehensive solution. He had also said that the talks were in a very advanced stage. However, the much-desired solution continues to elude the Nagas. Their (Centre’s) behaviour speaks volumes of their insincerity and the lack of political will towards solving the problem. So, we didn’t find any reason to meet him,” Naga Hoho president, Chuba Ozukum, told this correspondent.
He said the Centre as well as President Ram Nath Kovind, Nagaland Governor P B Acharya and the BJP had committed an early solution to the vexed problem but the issue continued to linger on.
“(BJP leader) Ram Madhav had said ahead of last year’s Nagaland election that the polls were needed for solution. A BJP vice president recently said the solution will come after Lok Sabha elections. So, they are contradicting each other. Enough is enough. The Government of India is not sincere enough to resolve the issue. It is playing with the Nagas and trying to divide them further,” Ozukum alleged.
Apart from Naga Hoho, two other influential organisations boycotting the consultations with Ravi were Naga Mothers’ Association (NMA) and Naga Students’ Federation.
The NMA said it had snubbed Ravi as a mark of protest against the Centre’s “insincerity”. The organisation was not happy over the manner in which the National Investigation Agency was allegedly harassing a section of members of the Khango Konyak-led rebel group National Socialist Council of Nagaland or NSCN-K (Khango faction) by trying to shift their cases outside Nagaland. The NMA had played a key role in bringing the outfit to the talks table.
The Naga peace process started in 1997 when the Isak-Muivah faction of NSCN (NSCN-IM) had signed a ceasefire agreement with the Centre. Over the past 22 years, both sides have held over 90 rounds of talks in India and abroad. Over the past two years, Ravi had been instrumental in bringing the state’s seven other rebel groups to the talks table. Only one faction of the NSCN-K is outside the purview of the peace process.