NEW DELHI, August 7 (MIC): ` I was quite surprised when I came to know the historic peace accord between the Government of India and NSCN (IM) was signed on August 3, 2015 without informing us`.
Talking to the media here today, the Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh said that he then asked the Union Minister of Home Affairs Rajnath Singh to send a copy of the agreement.
Rajnath told the Manipur Chief Minister that he would present the statement in the parliament. Till date, the matter is not presented in the Parliament, he added.
Day before yesterday, Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju and Union Minister of State for DoNER Jitendra Singh, during their inspection of flood in Manipur, told the media in Imphal that the peace accord was a simple framework, he narrated.
The Chief Minister also stated that the Government of Manipur is very much concern about the sensitive issue.
`My people will ask me why the State government did know nothing about the Naga accord. So, I come here to collect the full text of the Accord from the Centre`, he said.
He said that the statement of Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Niramala Sitaraman made yesterday that the Chief Ministers refused to come for a meeting called the Prime Minister on Naga Issue, was completely false and misleading to the people.
The Chief Minister further produced the two letters dated July 7, 2015 and July 10, 2015 sent from NITI Aayog and placed them before the media.
He said that the first one was for the meeting held on July 15 at 11 am about the discussion of Land Acquisition Act which the Congress ruled States had boycotted and the next one was for the meeting at 7pm on the same day relating to the development of the North Eastern Region.
If the agenda was on Naga Accord, he would definitely attend the meeting, he remarked.
He expressed, ` Nagas are my brothers and sisters living together with harmony for many years on Manipur soil. We want lasting solution for the NSCN (IM). If they demand the Naga areas from Manipur, 90 percent of the land will go, which we cannot compromise`.
He further stated, `While R. S. Pandey was the interlocutor of NSCN (IM) Peace talk, he always consulted the Government of Manipur on every step. When Ravi had been appointed as interlocutor, he never approached the State government on the issue`.
The Chief Minister also took a firm stand that not a single inch of land will be given from the territory of Manipur.
Indian National Congress organized a press briefing today at AICC conference room, Akbar Road here.
Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewalla was the main speaker.
Chief Minister of Assam Tarun Gogoi who also attended the briefing said that he was surprised that the Naga Accord was signed by the Interlocutor as representative of the Government of India.
He asked for the validity of the agreement. He further raised the question why it had been kept secret till today.
Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh Nabam Tuki said that if the peace accord damaged the co-existence of the people of the North eastern region, it would be meaningless.