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05/11/2005: "“Be prepared for any eventuality”: Muivah"

“Be prepared for any eventuality”: Muivah
NET News Network
Dimapur, May10: “Be prepared for any eventuality,” NSCN (IM) general secretary Th. Muivah said on his arrival here today.
Addressing the gathering he said “We should not be presumptuous as the world often comes out otherwise” and warned the people that the future may be bleak.
Returning after almost three months here the secretary general said, “They have genuinely understood the Naga issue. If there is political will, they can solve it”, adding, “The ball is in the court of government of India,”
His arrival was delayed for almost three hours and soon he arrived he address the gathering which comprise mostly of NGO’s and students at the airport and later on headed home for Hebron, 45 km from Dimapur.

Mood droops with Muivah OUR CORRESPONDENT Calcutta Telegraph
Naga leader’s speech drips with pessimism



NSCN-IM leader Thuingaleng Muivah at Dimapur airport on Tuesday.
Picture by Along Longkumer
Dimapur, May 10: The beads of perspiration on the faces of the crowd that had gathered at the airport to welcome their leader were not entirely due to the hot, humid weather. The expected reassuring smile wasn’t there on their leader’s face. The mood instantly turned sombre.
A crowd of about 2,000 people had waited for three hours as the flight carrying National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) leader Thuingaleng Muivah got delayed. When he did arrive, dressed in a black suit and yellow tie, Muivah’s face lacked the radiance when he and the outfit’s chairman, Isak Chishi Swu, had landed at the same airport in December.
The rebel leader was greeted with bouquets from NGO members while a couple dressed in traditional attire presented him a spear. It was a considerably low-key affair compared to the fanfare seen in December when Swu and Muivah came out of the airport, smiles flashing. While the banners and the extravagance were missing, even security was apparently not as tight compared to the December visit.
“Actually, this reception is an 11th-hour affair, as he (Muivah) was supposed to proceed to Hebron immediately. But we do not want to disappoint these people,” said an NSCN (I-M) leader. Tuesday afternoon became more sombre though, after a pessimistic speech by Muivah where he predicted that gunshots might ring out again in Nagaland. It was all negative but for the exhilaration in Freedom will come that was played before his arrival. Conveying NSCN (I-M) chairman Isak Chishi Swu’s greetings, Muivah said Swu was praying “ceaselessly” for “Nagalim”.
Earlier, NGO members talked in a positive vein and so did hundreds of college students gathered for the reception. Senior Naga Hoho member, D.K. Zeliang, said he was quite optimistic about the outcome of the talks and awaited a result anxiously. Students were as optimistic but some of them almost foretold what Muivah would say minutes later. “This issue should not be stretched like rubber. The government of India should take a decision and if there is no solution in the next one or two years then the ceasefire can break,” warned IAS aspirant Kughaka Sumi.
NSCN inching closer to peace accord Indo-Asian News Service
Guwahati, May 10, 2005 HindustanTimes.com
The NSCN on Tuesday said it was inching closer to bringing an end to more than six decades of insurgency in the region through peace talks with New Delhi. The National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) led by Isak Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah ended a fresh round of talks with Government peace negotiators in New Delhi late on Monday aimed at bringing the curtains down on one of South Asia's longest running rebellions.
"The talks ended on a positive note with just two or three substantive issues that remain to be sorted out now," NSCN spokesman Kraibo Chawang said.
Federal Minister Oscar Fernandes and chief peace emissary K Padmanabhaiah led the Government side in the talks with the NSCN leadership. "The minister told us that he understood the problems of the Naga people and would convey the feelings to the council of ministers before a final decision was taken to seal an accord," Chawang said. The NSCN is holding peace talks with New Delhi after the two sides entered into a ceasefire in 1997.
The NSCN, the oldest and the most powerful of around 30 rebel armies in northeast wants the creation of a "Greater Nagaland" by slicing off parts of the neighbouring states of Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh that have sizeable Naga tribal populations. The three regional governments of Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh have already rejected the NSCN demand for unification of Naga dominated areas. "Fernandes told us to have patience and assured us of the Government's determination to work out a mutually acceptable and honourable solution to our problem," Chawang said. Muivah and Swu arrived in New Delhi in December at the invitation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for furthering the peace talks.
The two self-exiled leaders have been operating from Southeast Asian cities for the past 38 years. There have been at least 15 rounds of talks held between the rebel leadership and New Delhi since December although the two sides are yet to clinch a deal. "The progress and pace of the talks are rather slow, but then the discussions are going on positively on the right track," Chawang said. NSCN leader Muivah is expected to arrive in Dimapur to hold discussions with top guerrilla leaders and commoners before sitting for fresh talks with New Delhi later this month. "Muivah will apprise the people about the progress of the talks so far and also to discuss strategies for future negotiations with New Delhi," Chawang said.
Is peace elusive in the region? Telegraph
GUEST COLUMN / ANJANA MAHANTA The author is a freelance research scholar


Army personnel scour a jungle in Darranga along the Indo-Bhutan border during an anti-insurgency operation
The attempt to understand the roots of ethnic strife has been confined to history & needs an immediate shift in attitude With the number of tribes demanding self-determination and autonomy growing by day and the resultant spate of violence and insurgent activities, the trend of secessionism has become a cumulative process in the Northeast.
A increasing number of tribes (like the Tiwa, Bodo, Dimasa, Rabha, Hajong, Karbi, Mising, Koch-Rajbongshi, Sonowal-Kochari) within the geographical boundary of Assam and others (like Chakma, Chinteng, Kuki, Hmar) in the Northeast as a whole, are seeking self-determination and independence. There are at least 30 militant groups in the Northeast with demands ranging from secession to greater autonomy to the right to self-determination. Six of the seven states of the region — Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya — have been ravaged by militancy since India’s Independence.
Apart from differences in ethnicity, language and religion, the strategic and geographically crucial location of the Northeast puts it in a disadvantageous position vis-a-vis the rest of the country. Boxed in by four countries — China, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Bhutan — with only a 22-km-wide chicken’s neck corridor of Siliguri linking it to India, the people of the Northeast have lived in isolation since the colonial period till a decade after Independence.
Being used to their own way of life, the tribals generally used to resent any overtures from the Centre and any intervention was taken as an infringement on their independence and culture. The outcome of this fear of losing their identity gave rise to the initial unrest and disturbance in the Northeast, which in due course, fuelled by other emerging socio-political issues, evolved into insurgency. Another factor, which perhaps triggered the attitude of alienation among the tribes and sub-tribes within the Northeast, was the condescending attitude of majority upper caste Hindus towards the tribals and the threats posed by the emigrant. The ego of the varna Hindus enraged the tribals and ignited the flame of secessionism. Their fear of submergence with the larger Assamese society and losing their cultural and ethnic root gave rise to the demand for separate states. Soon the original map of Assam was pathetically reduced as states like Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram were formed one after the other. Once started, the demand for secessionism became an unending process. Many small tribes scattered all over the Northeast today are demanding either separate states or full autonomy. Armed extremism is the means through which they hope to achieve their goals.
Paradoxically, the tribes that are fighting to be separated have a lot of similarity among themselves with respect to their origin, culture, and ways of life, economic condition and their psyche. The groups are also trying to achieve more or less the same objectives through different means. So much so that it can be argued that this commonality of culture and dependence on subsistence economy can itself provide clues towards exploring a common solution to this unending process of secessionism.
While some of the historical causes are becoming clearer, the emerging socio-political-economic complexities have brought forth many new variables and uncertainties to this problem. Often, the government has shown total lack of coherence in handling situations. While development at the grassroots level, decentralisation of power, limited autonomy and women’s empowerment have created a positive impact, given that strategy for peace in the region changes almost daily, various aspects that are exclusive to specific groups or locations need to be considered. Bringing all these attributes within a common framework has never been an easy task. That is why solutions have remained elusive. Studies and research on the conflict situation in the Northeast need to be comprehensive and focused which can benefit the policymakers of the Northeast and those at the Centre by identifying the root causes of the unending secessionism among different tribes. The point is to identify the factors leading to the feeling of insecurity and segregation among different tribes currently engaged in ethnic uprisings. By pinpointing the underlying cause of unrest and dissatisfaction among the tribes, intervention strategy can be chalked out towards initiating peace among the tribes. The outcome of such initiatives is expected to provide a clear insight into insurgency issues, which would consequently influence the concerned policy decisions to a great extent.
Though in recent times, considerable studies and efforts have been carried out in the field of conflict resolution and peace around the world, research on the ethnic strife in the Northeast has been limited so far to the history and evolution of various tribes and sub-tribes, their culture, and aspirations. Though there have been occasional articles in the media, solution-oriented field-based research on conflict in the region is scarce. There has been hardly any policy-level research undertaken so far that focuses on initiating and reviving effective development efforts. Settlement aspects of conflict and strategy towards finding a possible common solution to the problem of ethnic uprising in the Northeast can be experimentally tested through grassroots-level conflict-eradicating mechanism successfully experimented elsewhere. For example, Southeast Asia, due to its geographical and cultural similarity with the Northeast, could be a possible place to look for. There is need to develop comprehensive understanding of the entire spectrum of ethnic uprisings in the Northeast from the historical to the current context and to explore solutions within the framework of possible future dimensions. Gauging the mindset of the tribal communities is crucial to assess the roots of unrest in the region, as also to evaluate the perception of the tribal population about themselves vis-à-vis the mainstream population. Also, the significance of role of women in the whole canvas of peace initiatives needs to be assigned prime consideration particularly in case of several matriarchal tribes.
It is imperative to gauge the range of possibilities, which a transitional society would offer, including economic, political and social opportunities, to explore the prospect of promoting a smoother transition to peace and development with fewer destructive impacts. It may be useful to analyse successful models of conflict settlement mechanisms, including those used by the ILO through its tripartite structure, and explore the possibility of evolving such models for creating a dispute resolution approach for the Northeast.
Indian northeast rebel group warns "worst may come" By Biswajyoti Das
GUWAHATI (Reuters) - The leader of a powerful insurgent group in remote northeast India warned there could be fresh violence after lengthy peace talks with New Delhi failed to resolve the decades-old conflict, the rebels said on Wednesday. The warning from the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN I-M) came after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said at the weekend that finding a solution to the revolt by the Naga tribespeople would take more time. But the NSCN (I-M), which began a ceasefire with Indian security forces in 1997 and held talks in India and abroad to seek a solution to their demand for an independent homeland, signalled its patience was wearing thin.
"The worst may come again. Be prepared for any eventuality," a senior NSCN (I-M) official quoted general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah as telling supporters late on Tuesday at the rebel headquarters near Dimapur, the commercial hub of Nagaland state. About 20,000 people have died in the rebellion in Christian-dominated Nagaland since it began more than five decades ago. Muivah was speaking after returning from New Delhi where the latest series of talks between the militant group and Indian officials failed to make a breakthrough. Nagaland is one of seven states in the insurgency-riven northeast, surrounded by China, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar and linked to the rest of India by only a narrow strip of land. More than two dozen major insurgent groups operate in the region, home to over 200 ethnic and tribal communities. The rebel outfits are fighting variously for independence, greater autonomy, statehood or just more tribal rights.
BALL IN GOVERNMENT COURT
Muivah told cadres it was up to the government to make the next move. "If there is political will, they can solve it. The ball is in their court," he was quoted as saying. But an Indian official said the NSCN (I-M)'s frustration with the latest talks in New Delhi, which have dragged on for more than four months, was unlikely to cause a breakdown of the truce. "It will be difficult for them to break the ceasefire all of a sudden, because their cadres are confined to designated camps under our supervision," a federal government official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
The main sticking point in talks has been New Delhi's refusal to accept the NSCN's (I-M) demand to merge Naga-dominated areas, including districts from neighbouring northeastern states, into a "Greater Nagaland". Indian officials fear giving in to the demand would set the stage for an independent Naga homeland, or that a "Greater Nagaland" would lead to bloodshed as other ethnic and tribal groups in the troubled region would violently oppose the move. "We should know our rights and our freedom. Nagas are not born to be ruled by others," Muivah said.
NNC man, KCP cadre held
IMPHAL, May 10 : A team of Imphal West District Police Commandos arrested one NNC member, identified as Sanjrambam Ingocha Meitei (44) s/o S Ibobi Singh of Leimakhong Chingmang from near THAU ground at about 11.15 am today, the SP informed. The rank of the arrested person is Khapur and is working under one Lt Peter, who is now serving at Kohima, he added. Meanwhile, the SP of Imphal East District, in another statement informed that his personnel arrested a self styled private of KCP during a search operation conducted at Manipur University campus, Canchipur bases on specific information at about 1.39 pm today. The police officer identified the arrested KCP activist as Khwairakpam Tiken (31) s/o Late Kh Shamu Singh of Kakwa Lilando Lampak. On preliminary interrogation, the arrestee disclosed that he joined the outfit recently, the SP added.
NSCN says talks end on 'positive note' (LEAD, Recasts) By Syed Zarir Hussain, Indo-Asian News Service
Guwahati, May 10 (IANS) Nagaland's dominant separatist group said Tuesday that it had ended latest peace talks with New Delhi on a "positive note" and that this would help end six decades of insurgency in the state. The National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) led by Isak Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah finished the latest round of talks in New Delhi late Monday. Both sides are seeking to bring the curtains down on one of Asia's longest running rebellions.
"The talks ended on a positive note, with just two or three substantive issues remaining to be sorted out," NSCN spokesman Kraibo Chawang told IANS on telephone from Dimapur, Nagaland's commercial hub. Minister of State for Statistics and Programme Implementation Oscar Fernandes and India's chief peace emissary K. Padmanabhaiah led the government in the talks.
"The minister told us that he understood the problems of the Naga people and would convey the feelings to the Indian council of ministers before a final decision was taken to seal an accord," Chawang said. "Fernandes told us to have patience and assured us of the Indian government's determination to work out a mutually acceptable and honourable solution to our problem," he added. The spokesman did not say if the Indian government had made any specific promise vis-à-vis NSCN's insistence on a larger state that would include Nagas living in Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. All three states are bitterly opposed to any slicing of their territory to form what is known as "Greater Nagaland". Muivah had told BBC recently: "Unless the Nagas aspiration for unification of all Naga inhabited areas is fully realised, no negotiated settlement with the government of India is possible."
The NSCN has been holding peace talks with New Delhi after the two sides entered into a ceasefire in 1997. Muivah and Swu arrived in New Delhi in December last year at the invitation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for further peace talks. The two leaders have been operating from Southeast Asia for almost four decades. There have been at least 15 rounds of talks held between the NSCN and New Delhi since December. "The progress and pace of the talks are rather slow, but then the discussions are going on positively on the right track," Chawang said. Muivah is expected to arrive in Dimapur to hold discussions with top guerrilla leaders and other Nagas before going for fresh talks with New Delhi this month.
"Muivah will apprise the people about the progress of the talks and discuss strategies for future negotiations," Chawang said. Nagaland, where over 25,000 people have lost their lives to insurgency since India's independence from Britain in 1947, is a Christian majority state of two million people.
ULFA comments on talks meaningless: AASU By A Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI, May 10 – The AASU today described the comments of the ULFA on the tripartite discussion concerning the Assam Accord as an unwarranted one and meaningless. Reacting to ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa’s comment yesterday on the tripartite discussion, AASU president Sankar Prasad Roy and its general secretary Tapan Gogoi said in a statement today that the AASU would continue with its non-violent struggle to protect the social and political entity of the indigenous peoples of the State. The AASU has nothing to learn from the organisation, which is not aware of the gravity of the threat posed by the unabated influx of Bangladeshis and on the issue of sealing the Indo-Bangla border in this part of the country, the AASU leaders said.
They also reiterated that the AASU has accepted the deadline of 1971 in matters of identification and deportation of foreign nationals only against the provisions for safeguarding the interests of the indigenous peoples of the State. The AASU is not to abide by the dictats of any force, nor it is willing to serve as a medium for fulfilment of political interests of some forces, they said.
The spontaneous support of the flood and erosion victims to the decisions of the tripartite discussion is a pointer to the correct stand of the AASU on the problems facing the peoples of the State, they claimed. They also dared the ULFA to prove its patriotism by driving away the illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators from the State and checking fresh infiltration bids. Meanwhile in a separate statement, Roy and Gogoi have made an appeal to the Bodo leaders to unite overcoming all their mutual differences for the sake of development of the Bodos.
ABSU concerned at rift among Bodo leaders From R Dutta Choudhury
KOKRAJHAR, May 10 – The All Bodo Students’ Union (ABSU) has expressed concern over the open differences among the leaders of the newly formed political party – the Bodoland People’s Progressive Front (BPPF) – and called upon both the leaders of both the factions to stop allegations and counter-allegations against each other. Meanwhile, police and security forces have taken all possible precautionary measures to prevent any untoward situation in the district. Talking to The Assam Tribune, ABSU president RG Narzary said that the students’ body played the key role in the formation of the new party and following a request by the leaders of the party, the ABSU is also extending support to its candidates during the campaigning for the ensuing Bodoland territorial Council (BTC) polls. Expressing concern over the recent developments and open differences between the leaders of the newly formed party, Narzary called upon the members of the party not to speak against each other openly, and said that the leaders of the party should remain united in the interest of the Bodo society.

He stated that the BPPF leaders, instead of criticizing each other, should settle their differences within the party forum and added that immediately after the polls, the ABSU would hold talks with all the BPPF leaders to settle their differences. He further said that he had talks personally and over phone in the last few days and hoped that the differences could be settled amicably. He asserted that there is no difference between the ABSU and former BLT men and revealed that he had talks with former BLT chief Hagrama Mahilary over phone since the differences cropped up among the BPPF leaders. Mahilary claimed that he was campaigning for some independent candidates due to personal friendship, he added. When asked to comment on the performance of the interim body of the BTC, Narzary said that the interim council was formed to function only up to the holding of the first election to the council and it is too early to comment on its performance.

It may be mentioned here that serious differences have cropped up among the leaders of the BPPF , primarily over the selection of candidates for the polls and the former BLT chief – who is one of the members of the policy making body of the newly formed party – is openly campaigning in favour of several independent candidates who are fighting against the official nominees of the party. Mahilary also campaigned for former BLT man Mono Kumar Brahma, who is contesting against the BPPF president Rabiram Narzary from the Bonorgaon constituency. Meanwhile, the police is taking no chances in view of the serious differences among the Bodo leaders. Talking to this correspondent, Superintendent of Police, Kokrajhar district, PK Bhuyan, said that due to police action, several group clashes could be avoided in the last few days. However, he said that the situation became tense due to allegations and counter-allegations and spreading of rumours. Bhuyan added that of the 625 polling booths in the district, 145 have been identified as very sensitive and fixed police pickets would be posted in those places, while the remaining booths would be covered with mobile patrolling. He revealed that they had sought ten additional companies of forces to deal with the situation, but till date, no additional force has reached the district and “ we are managing with the available forces.” He said that the Army would not be used in poll duty, but patrolling by Army personnel in sensitive areas have been intensified.
The SP said that the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) is maintaining a neutral role so far in the district. However, he said that the police is taking no chances and a strict vigil is kept on the areas where the outfit have bases including the areas bordering Bhutan.
KCP relaxes threat against MLAs By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, May 10 : Following the decision of MEELAL to suspend its stir till May 11, pending a dialogue with the Govt on Meetei Mayek, the MK Mangang group of the KCP, KCP (P), today said that it has also relaxed its threat issued against MLAs in connection with the case.
In a statement, the outfit said that it may however resort to more severe action if the Government sleeps over the matter and refuses to implement the indigenous script. Though the outfit said that the KCP and MEELAL have no connection whatsoever, it hailed Mayek leader Ch Akaba, A Tomba and others languishing in jail for their contributions towards implementing Meetei Mayek.
Victory is at hand, said the outfit and maintained that the lesson to be learnt from the struggle put up by the people is the lesson of unity. Nothing can be achieved without unity. Elaborating, the outfit said that the time has come for all to unite and expressed regret over the scathing attack launched on its leader MK Mangang. Refuting the claim of KK Mangang that MK Mangang is Th Nando, who is an accused in the murder case of Elizabeth, the statement said that MK Mangang has been working sincerely for the outfit and revolutionary ideals. Criticising each other through the press is not the need of the hour, maintained the statement and added now is the time to work towards taking KCP to higher planes to join the ranks of revolutionary outfits in the world.
On a different plane the outfit said that its members have been activated to check the sale and consumption of liquor and drugs in Imphal West, East, Heingang AC and Awang Sekmai. Sounding a stern warning, KCP (P) said that one Lisham Mangal alias Nanao Singh (23) of Patsoi Part I, who works as a hawker has been taking advantage of the situation that his younger brother is in the Indian army and has been passing on information to Assam Rifles and Garhwal Rifles.
It was on his instigation that captain Yumnam Boy alias Nilachandra was arrested by 19 Garhwal Rifles and later shot dead after severe torture. Not only this Nanao also disclosed the hideouts of many other cadres leading to their arrest. Even those leading civilian life after retiring from the party are being harassed at his instigation, claimed KCP (P). Warning Nanao to surrender, the outfit said that if he heeds the diktats, he would be spared or else he would be awarded stern punishment. The outfit further said that the at the time captain Boy was arrested one AK-56 rifles, 1 AK-47 riles and two 9 mm guns were seized by the security personnel. As such the family members of Nanao must pay back the price for the weapons within one month time or else face punishment. The outfit also asked an impostor, Brojen alias City Meetei of Tentha Khunou who has been extorting money from the public by using the letter heads of the Mobile Task Force of the outfit. The identities of his accomplices are also kno-wn to the KCP, said the outfit and asked them all to surrender to the outfit.
Brojen started extorting money in the name of KCP after taking in a second wife on the pretext that she would be recruited to the KCP, alleged the outfit.
B’deshi encroachment at Patkai too By a Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI, May 10: The All Assam Man (Tai-speaking) Students’ Union and the Tirap Autonomous District Council Demand Committee have expressed serious concern over the increasing Bangladeshi infiltration and the random open cast mining at the Patkai range in the Tirap tribal belt bordering Arunachal Pradesh. The leaders of the two organizations, in a joint press conference in the city today, also alleged that Forest Minister Pradyut Bordoloi is involved in ‘illegal land grabbing’ by protecting the settlers from outside the country in the area. The organizations have demanded for a high-level inquiry into the matter. On the other hand, the tribal leaders are demanding for the sixth schedule status with territorial autonomy to ensure the political rights of the community. Pallab Shyam Waillung and Prasanna Turung, presidents of the student body and autonomous council demand committee respectively, have alleged that even the 5 per cent reservation in economic matter, education and employment under the standing order of the 1982 circular granting Schedule Tribe (hills) status has been violated by the State Government on repeated occasions. To ensure their political rights, they have demanded for an autonomous district council of about a 100 square-mile area comprising Tirap, Makum and Burhi Dihing mouzas. The bordering area with the mixed population of Singphou, Phakey, Khamti, Khamjang, Sema, Tangsa, Missing and tea tribes, has immense historical importance, they said. The tribal leaders have alleged that the Coal India Ltd has started open cast mining in the historic Patkai hills. To protect the bio-diversity and natural resources of the area, it is necessary to stop such activities immediately in Mulang hills, Malogaon and the adjoining areas along the Patkai range, they asserted. Waillung and Turung have also alleged that the Margherita MLA Pradyut Bordoloi is encouraging the illegal encroachment of the reserved forest land by the outsiders and capitalist forces. Over 1,000 bighas of land in the Tirap tribal belt has been encroached illegally, they alleged, adding that the government has done nothing to evict the encroachers. The Autonomous District Council Demand Committee has submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh way back in March which included 12 allegations made against Bordoloi. The allegations, included anti-tribal activities, close links with the coal mafia, involvement in land grabbing and opening of tea gardens at Margherita, destruction of the tribal belt and encouraging outside settlers.
Naga talks: territory first, sovereignty later M.S. Prabhakara

Integration of Naga-inhabited areas is at least in theory less problematic than concessions on the issue of Naga sovereignty. ONE OF the positive features of the prolonged talks between the Government of India and the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN) currently going on in Delhi is that there has been a near-total media blackout on what is actually happening. Such a view may appear strange, coming from a mediaperson. However, one has only to consider the breathlessness of the Indian media in the reporting of conflicts inside the country, in particular of the visual media which is endlessly caught up in the frenzy of the search for higher and higher ratings. Given this tendency, the virtual blackout of the talks - whose outcome will affect millions of people in the northeastern region - by the participants on all sides, barring brief statements about "progress being made," suggests the dialogue is going on well.
The silence has been broken by the interview Thuingaleng Muivah, the NSCN general secretary, gave to BBC a few days ago. Mr. Muivah made some important points about the two crucial and interlinked issues - Naga national sovereignty and Naga territorial imperative. They are both equally compelling and causally related to the "uniqueness of Naga history and situation."

Uniqueness
They are, therefore, central to any settlement of the Naga political question. Indeed, this is a constant refrain in almost all the statements of the NSCN leaders: The Government of India should understand the "the uniqueness of Naga history and situation." Two aspects of this "uniqueness" are, one, that the Nagas were never defeated or conquered; and two, that the Nagas everywhere have always lived on their own land. What is historically Naga territory was cut up and parcelled out to neighbouring territories when the whole area was under colonial occupation.
While officially the area of Nagaland as it exists is 16,579 square kilometres, NSCN accounts of the history of Nagaland claim that "the present population of 3.5 million Nagas are spread out in several thousand villages over a 120,000 sq. km land area."
In other words, the construction of the history and territoriality of the people in their neighbourhood has involved, without the consent of the Naga people, a diminution of their own history and territory. Thus, in his speech made at the `Naga Consultative Conference' that preceded the formal talks in
New Delhi, NSCN chairman Isak Swu did not even refer to the issue of sovereignty directly, though that issue still remains central.
"Unless the Nagas aspiration for unification of all Naga inhabited areas is fully realised no negotiated settlement with the Government of India is possible." "No permanent and honourable solution can be hammered out to the decades-old political conflict without bringing all Naga-inhabited areas of
North East together."
On both these issues, Mr. Muivah is categorical and uncompromising. And yet, the interview also provides some tantalising glimpses of possible arrangements and compromises falling short of these objectives. Predictably, both the Khaplang faction of the NSCN and the Adino faction of the Phizoist
Naga National Council have accused Mr. Muivah and other leaders of having already reached a tacit agreement on such a trade-off, diluting if not abandoning the more fundamental issue of Naga national sovereignty. This is not exactly the case.
However, it is also a matter of common knowledge and has been so for sometime that the NSCN leaders would agree, as part of a tactical incremental approach to securing a settlement with the Government of India, to something less than absolute national sovereignty as a first step if there were to be a firm commitment by the Government of India on the integration of all Naga-inhabited areas into Nagalim. Viewed historically and in the context of the Indian political reality, Naga integration, though a highly complex issue necessitating the consent of the three States concerned as well as a national consensus, is at least in theory less problematic than concessions on the issue of Naga sovereignty. After all the Indian Constitution does provide for the redrawing of the boundaries of the constituent States.
Mr. Muivah also makes some distinctions on the nature of the Naga territorial imperative insofar as this would impinge on the territories of Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and Assam, as well as the opposition within these States to an enlarged Nagalim.

Possible compromises
Two passages in Mr. Muvah's interview are indicative of possible compromises, though these are all the time qualified. Even while ruling out that the envisaged Nagalim could be part of the Indian Union, Mr. Muivah also concedes that unqualified sovereignty could still allow for sharing, though not surrendering, control over crucial issues like defence, foreign affairs, currency and communications.

However, this admission about the possibility of a "shared sovereignty," a concept popularised and propagated by several "civil society" groups sympathetic to secessionist movements in third world countries, is immediately qualified. "It's in the process of being worked out. It may be a little bit too early on my part to make pronouncements on that," he said. This, in respect of external affairs and defence, is later clarified thus: "So far as our external affairs is concerned primarily [the] Government of India should have them. But whenever the interest of the Nagas is affected Nagas should also be represented." The joint defence arrangement envisaged by the NSCN would entail India defending Nagaland in the event of external threat ("because if Nagaland would be in danger naturally the security of India would also be threatened") but rules out Nagaland offering help were India to come under attack - this part almost certainly a tongue-in-cheek clarification.

Interesting nuances
However, on the issue of integration of the Naga-inhabited areas outside Nagaland into Nagalim, the interview is far less accommodating, though here too there are some interesting nuances. Mr. Muivah, who is not merely a Naga from Manipur but is a Tangkhul Naga, a people with historically shared links to some of the most intimate and profound aspects of Meitei culture and history, is surprisingly quite dismissive of the Manipur's opposition to Nagalim.
He even suggests that the violent repercussions in Imphal in June-July 2001 to the extension of the ceasefire to all Naga inhabited areas of the region was essentially manipulated by "Meiteis backed by the Indian Government." The fact, however, is that the Nagalim envisaged by NSCN includes four
districts of Manipur constituting over three-fourths of the State's territory.
In the NSCN' s priorities in the matter of integration, Manipur comes first, followed by Arunachal Pradesh (Tirap and Changlang districts, which he believes the political leaders of Arunachal would be `willing to cede') and last, the areas on the Assam-Nagaland border. In the case of areas of Assam
claimed for Nagalim, the ground reality is that a substantial part of this area is already under the effective occupation of Nagaland. The territorial imperative of the putative Nagalim of the NSCN neatly dovetails into the present reality of the encroachment, consolidation, and extension of such
encroachment of the 11 reserve forests in Assam by the State of Nagaland.

Complex issues
Given the complexity of the issues involved and the prolong preparation that has preceded the formal talks, these are still early days. The States' positions (on both sides) need not necessarily be the final, take it or leave it, positions. And yet, if the NSCN general secretary has chosen to "put his cards on the table," it could be to emphasise both his understanding of the complexity of the issues involved and the urgency of arriving at a settlement.
Federalism and autonomy versus unqualified sovereignty; contending territorial imperatives; and a constantly fluid political situation from which no structure, not even the NSCN, can escape. The interview provides some glimpses of how at least a beginning could be made, if not in resolving
at least in reconciling these contradictions in respect of sovereignty and territoriality.
But concepts like "shared sovereignty," or "cross territorial nationalism," while sounding profound, do not always work in societies that are driven by exclusivist nationalist passions. Naga history as articulated across the political spectrum by the Naga people, including interestingly by the State
Government in Kohima that has a BJP component, provides a telling example of the strength of such nationalism.
Finally, and irrespective of the NSCN leadership's calculations, a settlement, or even a substantive progress towards a settlement, is unlikely with the present coalition in office in Delhi. The coalition headed by the `right wing Hindu nationalist' BJP would have had less problem making and selling a deal to its constituency than the United Progressive Alliance of "secular and progressive" parties. The various rebel groups in contention with the Indian state instinctively understand this seeming contradiction, at least in the northeast.