WC slams demand for new interlocutor, says talks already concluded

DIMAPUR, AUG 7 (NPN): The Working Committee (WC) of the Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs) has strongly criticised the Nagaland government’s renewed demand for the appointment of a Union minister-level interlocutor, describing it as “a test of the Naga people’s patience” and alleging that it was aimed at sabotaging the already negotiated Indo-Naga political solution.
In a statement, the WC, NNPGs said the demand raised by the “Indian constitutional outpost at Kohima, also called Nagaland state government” raised several questions. It recalled that in the early 2000s, Union ministers Oscar Fernandes, Prithviraj Chavan and Raghupathi had served as a ministerial team on the Indo-Naga issue, but claimed that they had achieved “nothing.”
The committee maintained that the Indo-Naga political negotiations had officially and successfully concluded and asserted that the appointment of an interlocutor, if required, was the prerogative of the negotiating entities and not facilitators. It stated that the Government of India-WC, NNPGs talks had concluded and that there was no need for such an arrangement.
Alleging that the demand was intended to sabotage the negotiated political solution, WC termed it a grave crime and warned that “history will not forgive the saboteurs.”
The committee described the demand for a minister-level interlocutor as “extremely insensible and discourteous” to the Naga public, saying it disregarded the efforts and sacrifices made by both the Government of India and Naga negotiators over the years, as well as the wastage of Naga talent and human resources for decades.
It alleged that the facilitators were speaking the language of negotiating entities and had “commercialised the Naga political movement.” It said the WC, NNPGs would welcome them if they resigned from their constitutional posts, formed a new “Naga National Political Party” and started fresh negotiations with a new interlocutor.
Questioning how elected representatives could impose conditions on the Government of India after negotiations had concluded, the WC, NNPGs said that if the opposition-less Nagaland Legislative Assembly was genuinely committed to expediting an early Indo-Naga political solution, it should convene a special Assembly session and formally appeal to the Centre for early implementation of the negotiated settlement.
Otherwise, it said, the state government should officially declare that it did not accept either the Framework Agreement or the Agreed Position.
It further stated that if the state government wished to handle the Indo-Naga political issue as negotiators, it should dissolve the Legislative Assembly and place its own demands before the Centre, including the demand for a new interlocutor.
The WC, NNPGs alleged that elected representatives acting as “saboteurs” neither conformed to the Indian constitutional framework nor respected the spirit and essence of the negotiated Indo-Naga agreements, adding that they were promoting an “anti-national narrative.”
It said the Prime Minister, Union Home Minister and the Chief Minister of Nagaland possessed complete details of both the Framework Agreement and the Agreed Position, including all negotiated competencies.
Referring to its “Status Paper”, the committee said it had, since 2019, openly presented what it described as the “best practical solution” to the Naga issue for public scrutiny. It claimed the document had carefully worked out the best political and administrative solution for Nagaland and Naga ancestral territories in other states without ambiguity.
WC questioned whether the Nagaland government had analysed the negotiated documents, claiming that it had not received any official feedback from the state government on the Status Paper.
It, however, recalled that former Nagaland Governor R.N. Ravi had stated in his address to the Nagaland Legislative Assembly on January 17, 2021, that “the negotiations have successfully concluded; there is now need for efforts to build on the substantial gains made so far and to move for final inking.”
“Having seen and heard enough theatrics, the demand for a minister-level interlocutor is an insult to the Naga conscience,” the WC, NNPGs added.