GUWAHATI, Apr 27 :A week after the last round of talks with Centre, the NSCN (IM) on Thursday made a strong pitch for its demand for unification of the contiguous Naga inhabited areas in Assam, Arunachal and Manipur into a greater Nagaland, “Nagalim.”
The NSCN (IM) reiterated its demand after the Ministry of Home Affairs on March 25 said that the statement by the group’s general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah that Centre has agreed to unification of the Naga inhabited areas as “erroneous.”
A “kilonser” (Minister) of the group, Hukavi Yepthomi, in a statement on Thursday said, “The Nagas, for the fullest realization of their identity and rights, therefore desire the unification of their land which is at the heart of their existence. It implies the desired will of the Nagas to have the freedom to decide the fate of their own destiny.”
He added that the “fragility of the peace process continues to be tested at all level and demands immense wisdom and integrity from both sides.”
He stated that NSCN “embodies the fullest aspiration and rights of the Naga while negotiating with India” and Nagas desire for their ancestral land to be united once more into “one geo-political entity- Nagalim.”
NSCN (IM) and Centre signed the unconditional bilateral ceasefire agreement in 1997 and the first round of talks was held with then Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda in Zurich.
In 2015, the Centre signed the Framework Agreement with NSCN (IM) in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi but the details of the agreement, based on which the final peace agreement is being worked out, is still kept under wraps.
Source: The Sangai Express
