Says, competencies being worked out on the principle of FA
NSCN (I-M) collective leadership on Friday said that competencies were being worked out on the principle of the Framework Agreement (FA), while giving a detailed explanation of “The letter and spirit of the Framework Agreement.”
In a statement jointly signed by NSCN (I-M) chairman Q. Tuccu, vice chairman Tongmeth Wangnao and general secretary Th. Muivah, explained that: “The Government of India recognises the unique history and position of the Nagas.” By unique history, they said “Nagas have the history of independence. The Nagas have neither been a part of Union of India nor that of Burma (Myanmar), nor any other power by consent or by conquest.
Similarly, thee leaders said that unique position meant “position and situation of Nagalim is political”. It was a case of invasion on Nagalim by India, and not law and order problem of India, they said.
They explained that “Both sides have understood each other’s respective positions and are cognizant of the universal principle that in a democracy sovereignty lies with the people. And that, it is an acknowledged fact that the sovereignty of Nagalim lies with Naga people.”
The collective leadership said that Government of India admitted the historical fact that the sovereign Naga people had not accepted the Indian constitution and that they did not accept it.
Acknowledging the position of Nagas and appreciating the intricacies of Indian system, they said the Centre during the tenure of then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh had proposed the option of solving the problem “on the basis of the principle of shared-sovereignty, which was subsequently signed under the leadership of the present Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 3, 2015.”
They further said that by shared sovereignty, it meant that “the sovereign Indian people and the sovereign Naga people will share sovereign power in some areas as defined in the competencies.”
Recognising the national identity of the Nagas and admitting that Naga people had rejected Union of India offered to them by the Constituent Assembly of India, they said the government of India had proposed “an enduring inclusive new relationship of peaceful co-existence of the two entities.”
The leaders further explained that inclusive meant it embraced all Nagas wherever they were, including all political groups, and new relationship meant a new relationship based on the Framework Agreement.
Similarly, co-existence of two entities meant coexistence of two people– Indian people and Naga people, they said.
On the question of Naga national flag and constitution, the leaders pointed out that it was a common knowledge known to the Indian leaders too that flag and constitution were constituent parts of sovereignty and asserted that there should be no ambiguity about it.