GUWAHATI: As the Northeastern states are a little jittery over the possible outcome of the talks between and the Centre and the Naga groups, an Assam MP has said the government cannot resolve the problem of insurgency in the region through interlocutors.
Rajya Sabha member Biswajit Daimary insisted on direct talks between the government and the myriad insurgent outfits for a peaceful and lasting solution.
Daimary, a Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) leader, said the Centre would achieve nothing by seeking to resolve the decades old problem through pointsmen. “But what has been their achievement so far?” he asked.
Daimary blamed the Framework Agreement signed with the NSCM-IM in 2015 for “misunderstanding among some neighbouring states”. There is a growing apprhension in Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh that the final ‘Naga Accord’, once signed, will lead to the formation of an authority in Nagaland which will administer the Naga-inhabited areas in the three states.
Daimary pointed out that the Centre could resolve the issue with Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT) as it held talks with the outfit directly. “The talks with BLT were held by officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Then Home Minister. L K Advani himself had mediated and everything was finalised in two years.”
The Centre had started the peace process with the NSCN-IM in 1997 following a ceasefire agreement signed between them and appointed Swaraj Kaushal as the interlocutor. Later, the responsibility was entrusted to former bureaucrat K Padmanavaiah. A few years later, R S Pandey who served as the chief secretary of Nagaland, took over. Currently, former intelligence officer R N Ravi is leading the negotiations.
Assam, too, has seen Central interlocutors — first former IM chief P C Haldar and now A B Mathur — leading negotiations with pro-talks factions of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland and ULFA.
“When the Centre appoints an interlocutor, it is its duty to monitor what he is doing. But is the Centre doing that?” Daimary wondered.