NSCN (I-M) said 21 members of parliament (MPs) wanting to know the status of the Indo-Naga political talks based on Framework Agreement (FA) should serve as a wake-up call for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whom it described as the architect of the agreement, to prove his standing on the Naga political issue he had brilliantly orchestrated in 2015 at his official residence, New Delhi.
As the delay that had crossed 27 years triggered apprehensions and lack of sincerity on the part of the central government, the group in a statement expressed gratefulness to the 21 MPs for their move.
The group said the political wisdom exhibited by the 21 MPs on the never-ending Naga political talks between the central government and the group had once again brought the FA into focus.
NSCN (I-M) recalled that when the historic FA was signed on August 3, 2015, it hyped up much expectations and imagination as it opened up new horizons towards meeting the political aspirations of the Nagas. The group claimed that it created the much-needed breathing space for both the negotiating parties, before starting taking the next crucial steps.
Noting that there was excitement and not exasperation on the side of the central government, as reflected in the speech of the Prime Minister during the signing ceremony, the group said accepting the political point scored, the FA signing ceremony was given high profile political status with the world as the witness via live telecast.
According to the group, what was politically significant about the FA in the political circle was that Prime Minister Narendra Modi took pride to call up all political leaders of India to announce his achievement in solving the elusive Naga political issue, the longest insurgency movement in Southeast Asia as he claimed in excitement.
Insisting that FA should not be compared with the Agreed Position (AP) signed with the WC, NNPGs, whom it described as “RN Ravi’s created group”, the NSCN (I-M) termed the AP as nothing but a colouration of Article 371A of the Constitution of India, craftily handled by Indian agencies. As repeatedly uttered by the NNPGs, negotiations between the central government and group had already concluded on October 31, 2019.
The NSCN (I-M) admitted that it was certainly difficult to find the meeting point between FA and AP. As Naga political groups (NPGs) under the banner of Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR) had taken the historic decision to stand by the covenant of reconciliation based on the historical and political rights of the Nagas, appending their signatures to the recognition of Simon’s Commission, 1929, declaration of Naga independence, 1947 and plebiscite, 1951, the NSCN (I-M) said it would be an act of betrayal if it went back against the vow before God to seek Naga solution under the Indian constitution.
Taking into consideration the legitimacy of Naga political movement spearheaded by the NSCN (I-M),the statement reminded everyone that the Indo-Naga political talks had passed through the hands of six successive Indian prime ministers.
Expressing their seriousness over the Naga political issue that had dragged on for too long, the NSCN (I-M) said three former prime ministers — VP Singh, Chandra Shekhar and Deve Gowda — had jointly written a letter addressed to the prime ministers of India and Thailand, urging them to give their sincere support to the Naga political talks.
The group also expressed indignation recollecting the traces of betrayal by Naga representatives in Indian parliament, making mockery of the sanctity of the Naga political issue by denying that there was no such issue in Nagaland. It claimed that the statement was made by none other than Apok Jamir when Swaraj Kaushal raised the Naga issue not making any progress.
The group said Apok Jamir snubbed the whole Nagas as he feigned ignorance of the seriousness of the delayed Naga political talks. The Naga issue came up while debating on the extension of Indo-Naga ceasefire in Manipur in July 2001.
Given the geopolitical importance of Nagalim, and the commitment for peaceful political solution, the NSCN (I-M) emphasised that the central government must send the right signal across the north-eastern region and not let the fragile situation turn into fireball by not taking forward the FA to a logical conclusion.
It may be mentioned that the MPs both from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha include– Manoj Kumar (Cong), Sanjay Yadav (RJD), John Brittas (CPI-M), AA Rahim (CPI-M), P Sandosh Kumar (CPI), Sushmita Dev (TMC), Javed Ali Khan (Samajwadi Party ), Dr. Fauzia Khan (NCP), Priyanka Chaturvedi (Shiv Sena UBT), MM Abdulla (DMK), Dr Kanimozhi NVN Somu (DMK), Dr Syed Naseer Hussain (Cong), PP Suneer (CPI), V Sivadasan (CPI), PV Abdul Wahab (IUML), Haris Beeran (IUML), S Venkatesan (CPI-M) and four others.