Brutally honest.
This is the call of RN Ravi, Interlocutor to the ongoing peace talk between the NSCN (IM) and the Government of India and while this may be seen as a reference to the two parties involved in the dialogue as well as the people of Nagaland, in effect this may also mean the need for all concerned, the people of Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, to be ‘brutally honest’ vis-a-vis the final outcome of the peace process which came into effect from 1997.
What has made things all that more uncertain is the fact that while New Delhi has been maintaining that there is nothing in the Framework Agreement which can impact on the territorial integrity of the States of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur, this has not stopped the NSCN (IM) from proclaiming at every given opportunity that the Framework Agreement recognises the rights of the Nagas to integrate under one single administrative unit.
The Framework Agreement is no doubt vague, very vague, but what is clear is that the talk is proceeding in the right direction and everything points to the possibility that a final pact will be signed soon.
This can be the only reason why the Government of India has reached out to other sections of the Naga ‘political groups’, clearly demonstrated in the visit of RN Ravi to Nagaland on October 24 to hold talks with six such ‘political groups’ including breakaway factions from the NSCN (IM).
Taking everyone along, is the mantra adopted in reaching out to the other groups, and herein lies the fact that the NSCN (IM) cannot be the sole body to represent the Naga people.
Here it becomes important to question the position of the six other ‘political groups’ on the demand of the NSCN (IM) for a Greater Lim.
This is where the call of RN Ravi to be ‘brutally honest’ becomes all that more interesting and significant.
What is the stand of the six political groups on the demand of the NSCN (IM) to form a Greater Lim by carving out existing territories of Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh ?
An answer to this poser will be interesting especially to the people of the said three States.
Can the Centre ignore the stand of the six political groups of Nagaland to hammer out a solution ?
The peace process or rather the ceasefire pact with the NSCN (K) has already been abrogated, but can the Centre really afford to ignore the Khaplang faction of the NSCN in thrashing out a final solution ?
All posers and no definite answer at the moment, but as RN Ravi said, all meaning the stakeholders, need to be ‘brutally honest.’
Here it is also important for Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur to be ‘brutally honest’ while addressing the ongoing dialogue.
A solution, but can there be a solution with the NSCN (IM) without giving them something, even if it may not be territory or land.
Can there be a political arrangement in which the Naga inhabited areas, or the areas which the Nagas claim as their ancestral land, are administered in a different set up, different from the present system ?
If such a model comes will it be acceptable to the three States ?
For Manipur, this is a question which the BJP led Government has to answer, obviously after consulting the different civil society organisations.
Source: The Sangai Express
