NEW DELHI: Officially paving way for appointment of a new interlocutor for Naga peace talks, Tamil Nadu governor RN Ravi on Wednesday resigned from the post and his resignation was accepted by the central government “with immediate effect”.
A Union home ministry spokesperson tweeted, “R N Ravi’s resignation as interlocutor for the Naga peace process, submitted by him today, has been accepted with immediate effect.” The clear indications for Ravi’s removal from the post of interlocutor came on September 9 itself when he was transferred as the governor of TN from being the governor of Nagaland. Ravi, with who last year Naga insurgent group NSCN-IM had refused to hold any discussions, had been the Centre’s interlocutor for Naga peace talks since 2014.
Ravi was appointed the governor of Nagaland in July 2019 and was continuing his role as the interlocutor on behalf of the central government. The New Indian Express first reported about the resumption of Naga peace talks between the central government and NSCN (IM) on September 18. On September 20, former special director of the Intelligence Bureau, A K Mishra led the talks on behalf of the central government with the Naga rebel group in Dimapur.
This newspaper had also reported that Mishra was likely to be appointed the new interlocutor of Naga peace talks. On Tuesday, a senior government functionary told this newspaper that a notification for Mishra’s appointment might be issued soon.
Talks ran in to trouble last yr
Talks ran into trouble after Ravi allegedly circulated a ‘doctored’ version of the agreement signed in 2015 between Issak Chishi Swu, Thuingaleng Muivah and him in the presence of PM