GUWAHATI: Thuingaleng Muivah, the general secretary of the insurgent group National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN-IM), air-dashed to New Delhi on Monday.
He flew out in a chartered plane along with his wife and seven others. The purpose of his visit was not known but sources said he was in the national capital for “treatment”.
Not much was known about the seven persons who accompanied the rebel leader and his wife. The sources said they were their “staff”, not other leaders of the group.
The 86-year-old Muivah, who is the chief negotiator of Naga peace talks, had some health concerns related to travel. Last week, he had skipped a meeting with the interlocutor of Naga peace talks RN Ravi, who is also the Nagaland governor, in Nagaland’s commercial hub of Dimapur due to health-related issues.
The NSCN-IM had signed a ceasefire agreement with the Centre in 1997. Ever since then, the two sides have held over 100 rounds of peace parleys within and outside the country but the solution to the protracted “Naga political problem” continues to elude both sides.
Among the contentious issues in the talks include the NSCN-IM’s demands for a separate Naga flag and Naga constitution. The outfit operates out of the soil of Nagaland, Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and Myanmar.
On July 14, the NSCN-IM had sought an official clarification from “competent authority” on the “validity and extent” of the ceasefire agreement and set a week-long deadline for the same after six of its members were gunned down by the security forces in Longding district of Arunachal on July 11.
“…As per the Bangkok Agreement, dated June 14, 2001, the ceasefire agreement is between the GoI (Government of India) and the NSCN as two entities without territorial limits,” the NSCN-IM had said in a statement issued to the media.
The outfit said it had been maintaining the essence of this historic agreement in letter and spirit wherever the “Naga Army” operates.
“…A clear-cut answer is, therefore, demanded whether there is a ceasefire in Naga-inhabited areas of Arunachal Pradesh state or not. Make your position officially known within one week’s time. In the event of ugly aftermaths evolving spontaneously out of such situation, we shall not be held responsible,” the NSCN-IM had warned.
The seven-day deadline will expire on Tuesday.