[Previous entry: "IM refutes report, expects tangible progress in next two/three rounds of talk"] [Next entry: "Muivah denies Padmanabhiah on Naga peace settlement claim"]

07/02/2006: "NISC Interview Muivah of NSCN on statements by Padmanabhiah of the Government of India"

Naga International Support Center, NISC www.nagalim.nl
A human rights organization

Press release Amsterdam July 2 2006

Alarmed by a televised interview in India, below, which was published by the Tribune, NISC questioned Mr. Thuingaleng Muivah, Naga negotiator of the NSCN, now in the Netherlands, on the statements of Mr. Padmanabhiah.
NISC: The Indian interlocutor Mr. Padmanabhiah said in that interview, a deal on a kind of federation whereby the NSCN will be part of the Union of India and so within the constitution of India, will be clinched in the forthcoming talks in Bangkok. Is this correct? Visibly restrained Th. Muivah reacted: “That is not correct at all!”

NISC: Mr. Padmanabhiah has a different reading of what you talk about during the peace talks?
It cannot be! Because the talks were between two big delegations, ministers, interlocutor, secretary’s etcetera. The only point we talked about in last talks, was the framework of the relationship put forward by the facilitators. We agreed to discuss that in the next round of talks. We did not talk on any other issues! If Mr. Padmanabhiah is talking besides this point his statements are baseless.

NISC: We understand Mr. Padmanabhiah is commissioned to talk on behalf of the Prime Minister. How do you read this then? Th. Muivah
Yes the talk is at the highest level and he and his colleagues represent the Prime Minister.

NISC: Are we to understand Mr. P reflects the opinion and reading of the talks on the Prime minister level, where it looks like it is his own interpretation? Th. Muivah:
This is for you to make out. I can only say what has been talked about during the last talks.

NISC: To us it looks like, for this is not the first time Mr. Padmanabhiah has come up with his interpretations in public, he puts stumbling blocks in the talks. This again like last time has to be thoroughly talked about before the talks on substantive issues, can continue. This requires clarification and so the talks are dealing with personalities not with substance. Don’t you agree?
Th. Muivah: “Yes I agree that is what he should do from his side, to clarify.

NISC: If we take the reading and understanding of Mr. Padmanabhiah seriously then we cannot but conclude that you are worlds apart from each other. Th. Muivah:
From our side we are serious and sincere and we will not distance ourselves from taking on the issues and we always mean what we say.

The talks are held at the highest level and the stakes are high. Consequently NISC cannot but question the Government of India too on this matter:
Considering the striking disparity in the perception of what has been talked about during the peace talks between K. Padmanabhia, Emissary of the prime Minister, and the negotiators of the NSCN (IM), NISC asks the Government of India to conclusively show what it has meant by going public this way:
Did the Emissary show only his own perception of what was discussed in the peace talks, or did he speak on behalf of the Prime Minister of India?

For more information on background of the conflict and peace talks please consult our website www.nagalim.nl or contact us through nisc@nagalim.nl

Talks in top gear; deal to be clinched in Bangkok Kuknalim.com
NEW DELHI, June 28: In the words of the Prime Minister’s Principal Interlocutor “From first gear it has now moved into fourth gear”. And unlike the politician’s hyperbole it is a cautious bureaucrat, Mr K. Padmanabhiah, describing it as the first breakthrough in the five-year Naga peace process. It is now official. As reported earlier by The Tribune, the contours of the Naga peace settlement will resemble that of a special Kashmir-type status within the Indian union.

From a demand of absolute sovereignty to the current “open mind’’ of the NSCN (I/M) which involves a “special federal relationship with India where Nagaland and India will be inseparably bound together’’ is indeed a long walk together for peace.
Sources say the accord with the Nagas will entail changes in Article 7 of the Constitution which deals with relations with the states. At present, this does not apply to Jammu & Kashmir. Articles 151 to 237, a total of 88 articles, are however, reflected in the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir. Similarly while the NSCN wants a separate constitution the government wants to settle for providing a special chapter in the Indian Constitution.

Part six of the Constitution deals with the role and powers of the Governor, the state legislature, the state judiciary and the Advocate-General of India. These provisions do not apply in Jammu and Kashmir and have been incorporated in the Jammu and Kashmir Constitution. Constitutional experts are of the view that a similar arrangement can be made with the Nagas incorporating their unique tribal culture into account either in the shape of a separate constitution like Jammu and Kashmir or as a special chapter in the Constitution.
While, the fine print of the deal will be thrashed out over the next meeting to be held in Bangkok all the midnight oil that Mr Padmanabhiah has been burning studying the constitution of India and Jammu and Kashmir has obviously borne fruit. He and the political team have obviously been able to find a “marketable solution’’. For the NSCN to accept anything short of complete independence is in the words of one of the ministers involved in the negotiations, “a remarkable breakthrough’’.
Clearly all the prayers led by Isaac Chisi Swu, a devout Christian, before the start of the meetings have paid off. Sources say the settlement will involve giving Nagaland a special status within the Indian Union. It will be largely ceremonial in nature. And, then the more than a decade-long insurgency will stop. Speaking exclusively to the Tribune, Mr Padmanabhiah stuck a note of cautious optimism. “The talks are on track; Let us hope for the best. We have all worked hard for five years to bring about this situation,’’ he said. The flurry of meetings after the negotiations in The Hague is a pointer that the next meeting could be the clincher. Analysts point out the magnitude of concession “from a demand of complete independence to an inseparable union with India it is a huge breakthrough.’’
According to senior officials, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s brief to the negotiators was that “the Constitution is flexible, it can accommodate them. As long as they are part of India... .’’
The Naga blueprint may well provide a pointer to other separatist problems.
The writer, Swati Chaturvedi is an anchor with Janmat TV and writes regularly for The Tribune.


Meanwhile during this interview the NSCN issued this statement from Dimapur in Nagaland State:

Dimapur June 30 2006 The NSCN (IM) has strongly denied the claim that during the last round of talks held on June 22 and 23, at The Hague, the Netherlands, it had discussed with the Government of India, about a solution either within the constitution of India or Within the Union of India: “And no Naga will ever accept any of such solution within the Union of India, Lt. Gen. (Rtd) V.S. Atem, Emissary to the Collective Leadership stated in a press communiqué
The Emissary was responding to a statement made by K. Padmanabhiah on the ongoing Indo-Naga peace negotiations that was given exclusively to the Tribune and which was carried extensively in the local media.
“I, on behalf of the NSCN and the Naga people, am compelled to put this on record to straighten the matter once and for all”, the Emissary stated while pointing out that during the talks in question, both the Government of India and the NSCN (IM) did agree to discuss more on the framework of a special relationship, “But nothing was discussed about any solution either within the constitution of India or within the Union of India,” Atem stated terming the statement of Padmanabhiah as absolutely baseless. The Emissary stated that it was unbecoming of K. Padmanabhiah, special interlocutor of the prime Minister to stoop s low to scandalize the Indo-Naga political negotiation:
“I repeat there was no discussion at all on solution within Indian Union and Nagas will not seek solution within the union of India”, Atem reiterated in no uncertain terms.

The Telegraph New Delhi, June 30: The National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) has clarified that it was not amenable to the idea of settling within the Indian Union, ” reports our special correspondent NSCN (IM) general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah today clarified that contrary to some reports in the Indian media had not accepted that Nagas were willing to settle within the Indian Union: “What we have been proposing is, that Nagalim and India should become a federation. The relationship of the federation of India and Nagalim will be based on the agreement arrived at between the two sides,” he said in a telephoned interview with The Telegraph from the Netherlands.