IMPHAL, February 13: The United Naga Council in a press statement has acknowledged the support of the Naga people for the 5th round of the tripartite talk held with the Government of India(GoI) and the Government of Manipur(GoM) on February 12.
Elaborating on the talks held yesterday at Senapati, it said, “As the talk commenced, the GoI was urged to respond to the postulates of the alternative arrangement submitted by the UNC in the 4th round of tripartite talk held on August 31, 2012 at Delhi”.
It said that in reply, the GoI said that in a federal system of Government, the concerned state has to be consulted.
“On the insistence that the core issue of alternative arrangement outside the Government of Manipur (GoM) that the pending settlement of the Indo-Naga issue must be addressed in the talk, the GoM representative maintained that it was not mandated to discuss political issues which can be taken up at the political level and presented details of development programs and policies of the GoM that was in the pipeline for the development of tribal areas”, the statement said.
“It was asserted by UNC that it was not development deficit but the demand of alternative arrangement which will protect our identity, land and resources, traditional institution and customary practices and ensure a life with dignity and honour for our people. It was clearly stated that the worsening social divide on account of the forced union could result anytime into large scale confrontations. It was questioned as to why GoI, as the custodian of the Indian constitution was not intervening in such a serious situation and on the merits of the issue that had been presented by the UNC in all the meetings”, it said.
The UNC press statement went on to say that the next round of talk should go deeper into the core issue which has been postulated and should be held without inordinate delay. It said that the talks concluded with the GoI requesting for a continuation of the dialogue process and assurance that the sentiments expressed by the UNC would be taken back to the political leadership.