The Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland - Issak Muivah (NSCN-IM) on Monday claimed that its demand for the Naga flag and constitution is not stalling the Indo-Naga peace talks.
In a statement, the group said that the government of India is “entirely responsible for the delay” and added that the “actual point of delay started” with the entry of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
“Today the Nagas are reeling with utter confusion about the Indo-Naga peace talk and subsequently started expressing their total discontentment pointing accusing fingers on the very people who brought the ceasefire and the peace process.
“Some people misconstrued that the peace talk is delaying because of the flag and constitution issues. Whereas it is not the case because the flag and the constitution are the component ingredients embraced in the Framework Agreement (FA)”, read the statement.
According to NSCN-IM, it is on record that the Government of India has recognised the uniqueness of the Naga history and its position that Nagas were never part of Indian Union either by conquest or consent. “Naturally, how can a Naga national movement be without a flag and a constitution?”
It stated that the Framework Agreement had acknowledged and accepted the declaration of Naga Independence Day on August 14, 1947 and the Plebiscite of 1951. Henceforth, it added, the flag and the constitution are the embodiment of the FA.
The group stated that sharing of sovereign powers, as mentioned in the FA, is a recognition and acceptance of Naga sovereignty. It is not the case of Indian constitutional provision granting power division, it stated.
“The irony is that this matter was already resolved long back but the RSS factor came in between, questioning how there can be two flags and two constitutions.
The manifesto of the RSS/Hindutva sharply contradicted the principle agreement of the FA. The actual point of delay started from here.
“In the official talks, neither Mr. RN Ravi nor Mr. AK Mishra ever says that there is no flag and constitution in the Framework Agreement. Ironically, the twists and turns of the flip-flopping habitual betraying character of the Government of India comes up to take the centre stage and sown the seeds of confusion in order to disown the FA.
“Certainly, GoI is entirely responsible for the delay. The Nagas have had enough of the GoI’s overly pretentious appearance on the Indo-Naga peace talk. It is high time for the GoI to come clean. The Government of India signed two agreements with the Nagas, i.e. the Framework Agreement and the Agreed Position. These two agreements have divided the Naga people”, the statement read.
If the Centre is sincere about an early solution, why is it pursuing two agreements for one people and one common issue? the group questioned.
“These two agreements are parallel in nature, one is within Indian constitution and the other is outside the purview of the Indian constitution. With this unwarranted policy, the Government of India is testing the nerve of the Nagas and delaying the whole process.
“It is time for the Government of India to make her stand very clear on these two agreements and which one is to be used for the final agreement. Simply inviting the NSCN to New Delhi for peace talk without going through the detoxification process will not help expedite the Naga political solution”, it asserted.
Should the legitimacy of the FA, “as proclaimed before the world by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi”, be put on the bargaining level with another agreement which was signed surreptitiously? it questioned.
