Guwahati: NSCN-IM General Secretary Thuingaleng Muivah will attend the peace talks in person in New Delhi, on August 21. Thuingaleng Muivah’s presence has made the resumption of talks between the Union Government and NSCN (IM) all the more crucial.
Apart from Muivah, a 7-member delegation of the NSCN-IM collective leadership, including Rh Raising, TT Among, Kraibo Chawang, Hutovi Chishi, Dr Kimong Lowang, Zeneituo Pienyu, Mozamo Ngullie will also attend the talks.
Naga Ho Ho general secretary Elu Ndang feels a breakthrough can be achieved this time if the Government of India takes the aspirations of the Naga people seriously. Any settlement to be arrived at, the Government of India has to look beyond granting autonomy.
It should be mentioned that political observers who have been following the Naga peace talks for years feel that it is a kind of a new hope, and it is expected that there might be some breakthrough this time. But sensitive issues like granting a separate constitution and integration of Naga inhabited areas in the North East which has been termed by the NSCN as ‘Greater Nagalim’, have a crucial role to play in achieving a breakthrough. Experts in the North East considered these two as very ‘naughty’ issues in the Naga peace talk.
As far as the separate constitution is concerned, they feel, it is possible to grant a larger autonomy going by the framework agreement that was agreed upon back in 2015 by both the sides. The experts also feel that allowing a kind of institutional autonomy without curtailing the power of the existing States can be a catch for the NSCN’s demand for integration of Naga inhabited areas. It would be a kind of political institutional autonomy with flexible financial and other administrative powers which would be well-defined. Therefore it doesn’t have a problem with jurisdiction, they said. Senior journalist Sushanta Barua who has been closely following the Naga political issue, said that Muivah’s presence in the talk shows the importance of today’s event.
The NSCN (IM) leader is not keeping well for quite some time, and he is taking a chartered flight to reach Delhi for the talk. Muivah wouldn’t have gone to Delhi unless a lot of groundwork had been covered during the earlier three rounds of talks attended by top NSCN (IM) leaders, Baruah said. He also feels that as the general election is around the corner, the Union Government is keen to resolve the decade long Naga political issue for once and all. The Government of India is also very serious about resolving the Naga issue, and the crucial meeting between Government of India representatives and top NSCN (IM) leaders on August 22 might lead to clinching a final agreement for the long pending issue, Baruah added.
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