"The Time for regret will come later, and then you will realise life is, after all, a series of endless regrets". - poet Sitakant Mahapatra
New Delhi
In a virtual royal snub to the Nagaland Core Committee comprising state ministers and legislators, Assam Chief Minister and NEDA convener Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday said "I don't think I can mediate on such a big issue".
"....This (Naga insurgency-political problem) is a big complex issue. The Government of India has already nominated Mr A K Mishra to negotiate with the NSCN(IM) and find out a solution which is acceptable to everyone," Sarma said a day after the Core Committee invited him for a meeting in Dimapur on Thursday, June 2.
The key panel is headed by Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio of NDPP and has BJP leader and deputy
CM Y Patton besides former Chief Minister T R Zeliang (also NDPP) and NPF leader K Azo Nienu.
However, Mr Sarma maintained at the "political level" as the NEDA convener he keeps on interacting and
meeting the leaders of BJP, NDPP and NPF in Nagaland.
Rio is heading the NDPP-BJP-NPF 'opposition-less government' in the state where assembly
elections are due by Feb-March 2023.
"We keep on talking because all are NEDA leaders. So my role is limited - only to interact with our
NEDA partners and not beyond," Himanta said.
As reported by IANS, a powerful section of Naga leaders - both state level politicians and underground -
were not happy for the Core Committee trying to bring in a sitting Assam Chief Minister in parleys.
The worse was the Core Committee announced inviting Himanta for a meeting in Dimapur
within a few hours words spread that the NSCN-IM has once again decided to stick to their "sort of
non-negotiable" demands of a flag and a separate Constitution.
"Does Himanta Sarma have a magic wand, and if so, Chief Minister Rio and Deputy CM
Patton of the BJP should announce it formally. Then we will not complain," a senior Naga leader
had said.
"An issue which could not be solved by Prime Ministers Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Manmohan Singh
and Narendra Modi, how can Himanta Sarma play a positive role," the leader asked.
Sources admit - "The delay games are deliberate and visible and it gives an
impression that even the core committee is trying to adopt a longer and time-taking road map".
"Enlisting the help of Assam's sitting Chief Minister, whose only credential is being chairman of NEDA,
appears ridiculous," the Naga leader has said adding, "Are some people taking taxpayers' money for granted".
In fact Himanta's stand is very logical and has a basis.
In 2000, the then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee had mooted the name of former Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma
as the new negotiator. The then Assam Chief Minister and Congress leader Tarun Gogoi had strongly opposed
the move saying no active politician from the northeast should be part of such an exercise as the Naga issue
is very complex and sensitive and has implications in various other states in the region.
The Union Home Minister from the time of L K Advani had been maintaining that since three northeastern
states of Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh which share borders with Nagaland state and also has
substantial Naga population, any consultations with these states have to be done by the centre alone.
One source has stated that "peace emissary AK Mishra does not have anything new to offer, and the core committee said
recently that we do not know many detailed matters being discussed between NSCN-IM and the Centre".
This only exposes sheer helplessness and limitation of the core committee, which was directed by Home
Minister Amit Shah to "do homework".
The Core Committee meeting with the Home Minister in Delhi on May 18 was almost
a flop show.
A section of BJP leaders have already pushed the idea of President's Rule seeking that
the Neiphiu Rio-led regime should 'step aside' as articulated lately by no less than state's
deputy Chief Minister Y Patton. NNPG has also called for the resignation of the Rio ministry.
It was revealed that Shah had a detailed discussion with Naga leaders including CM
Rio and Deputy CM Patton in Guwahati and clear "instructions for a roadmap"
was passed.
Thus the four leaders of the Core Committee comprising CM Rio, Deputy CM Y Patton, and T R Zelang
and Kuzholuzo Azo Nienu on May 18 discussed only "developmental and disaster management issues"
with the Union Home Minister.
The government sources say the twin demands of Flag and Constitution were raised by NSCN-IM only after
October 31, 2019 when officials claimed formal talks were already over.
Informed sources say the 'homework' for the Core Committee meant it had to convince NSCN(IM) leadership
to give up the twin demands of Flag and Constitution.
But May 31 meeting of the NSCN-IM makes it clear the Core Committee could not convince the militant
organisation especially its leader Thuingaleng Muivah.
In his presidential address, Q. Tuccu, chairman of the NSCN-IM, told the 'emergency assembly' of NSCN-IM
: - "How can we forfeit the Naga national flag and the Naga Constitution in the name of Naga political solution?"
In a representation addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the apex Naga Tribal Council (NTC)
president Toniho Yepthomi and general secretary Nribemo Ngullie said that two and a half years have
passed since the dialogue between the government of India and the Naga political groups
“officially culminated on ‘31st October 2019" and hence now a peace pact ought to be inked at the earliest.
ends
(Nirendra Dev is a New Delhi-based journalist. He is also author of books,
'The Talking Guns: North East India' and 'Modi to Moditva: An Uncensored Truth'.
Views are personal)
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