[Previous entry: "Muivah denies Padmanabhiah on Naga peace settlement claim"] [Next entry: "Muivah On Padmanabhiah’s Disclosure Nagarealm.com"]

07/03/2006: "Muivah on Padmanabhiah’s disclosure"

Muivah on Padmanabhiah’s disclosure Nagaland Post
DIMAPUR, JULY 2 (NPN): In the backdrop of reported disclosure on the finer details of the ongoing talks between the Centre and the NSCN-IM by the Prime Minister's special interlocutor to the Naga talks, K. Padmanabhiah, which was published by the Tribune, New Delhi, the Naga International Support Center (NISC) interviewed NSCN-IM general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah, now in the Netherlands, on the statements of 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?
Th. Muivah (visibly restrained): That is not correct at all!
NISC: Mr. Padmanabhiah has a different reading of what you talk about during the peace talks?
Th. Muivah: 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. Padmanabhiah 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.
Villagers caught in demarcation issue
Correspondent Nagaland Post
JALUKIEZANGDI, PEREN, JULY 2 (NPN): Nagas' sensitivity to their close-knit society and ancestral land has been proved yet again with a certain section of the Zeliangrong community, expressing apprehension that their ancestral land would be divided with the demarcation of Peren district boundaries.
"We don't mind if we fall under Dimapur District or remain in the new Peren district, but the state government should ensure that the age-old traditional boundary is restored when the boundary is demarcated," said a village elder from Old Jalukie Village while interacting with the local MLA Vatsu Meru on Sunday at Jalukiezangdi village, located between the two Hebron Camps of the NSCN-IM- GHQ and CHQ.
The MLA was here to assess the prevailing tension between Jalukiezangdi village and a neighbouring village that had recently witnessed burning down of three houses of Jalukiezangdi village allegedly by the neighbouring village. Jalukiezangdi is a new settlement of Old Jalukie Village. The village elders of the two Jalukie villages led by their village council chairmen, expressed their suspicion that certain forces were trying to divide the traditional boundary of the Zeliangrong people by carving out certain portion of the foothill plain areas and incorporating them to the present Dimapur district.
The elders also pointed out to the 2000 incident where some villagers lost their lives and fourteen houses were gutted in an attack by a neighbouring village. The Zeliangrong ancestral boundaries were clearly demarcated by the then British and also clearly mentioned in the Survey of India Map, the village elders pointed out.
The villagers also disclosed that following the fall out with the neighbouring Kachari village Monglumukh, the latter had filled a complaint to the DB's Union Dimapur, which had come for spot verification two days ahead of the burning down of the three house on June 24 last, without the presence of any DBs or officials from Peren district.
Critical of the act of the DBs Union of Dimapur, the village elders wondered as to how DBs from another district could settle a case and give verdict of another district. Earlier too, Monglumukh village had filed petition in the court of the NSCN-IM on the dispute between the two villages and the court had heard the case and conducted spot verification.
However, while the GPRN court is yet to pass its verdict, Monglumukh villagers had gone ahead and lodged the complaint to the DBs Union Dimapur, the villagers added. The setting up of Hebron Camp has proved a boon to Jalukiezangdi as the village has now electricity and a newly blacktop road that pass through the village to the GHQ of the NSCN-IM, located almost at the outskirt of the village. The village which has about ninety households spread over an area of one square km, however faces acute shortage of water during dry seasons.
"We depend on dug wells, but except one or two, most of them are empty during dry season" said a villager. Vatsu, after giving a patient hearing to the villagers, condemned the recent burning down of three houses and appealed to the neighbouring villages to shun the path of violence and to live in peaceful coexistence. He also asked the villagers to immediately report to him and the authority concerned on any act of violence or intolerance in the near future, so that immediate necessary action can be initiated to prevent any unwanted incidences.
Ulfa Must Prepare For Realistic Dialogue The Statesman
It is now virtually official: the banned United Liberation Front of Asom (ULfa) is almost certain to come to India for direct talks with the Government of India later this year to begin a dialogue to end decades of confrontation, as it winds down its struggle for a once-romanticised “free” Assam.
Last week’s meeting of the Peoples Consultative Group, the public face of Ulfa, with the representatives of the GoI, including home minister Shivraj Patil and national security advisor MK Narayanan, was positive. The discussions lasted over four hours and closed with a joint statement to the media.
There are three issues on which the two sides hammered out a consensus: that there would be no recrudescence of Ulfa’s violence, a reference to the attacks that it unleashed on the Assam valley two weeks ago; that the organisation would come for talks and that five senior leaders in custody, a few captured after the Bhutan army’s assault on their camps in the Himalayan kingdom in December 2003, would be released.
Several media reports had proclaimed a hitch in the talks on the eve of the PCG’s arrival in New Delhi, saying that the five leaders, including a woman, were unlikely to be freed. However, this column had said last week that New Delhi had begun the process of releasing them, which has since been borne out by the government’s decision. The group is to be freed in order to enable the policy council of the organisation to meet to take a formal decision on the talks.
But what is Ulfa’s future agenda? What are the key issues it will discuss? It has proclaimed in the past that the key issue for discussion will be sovereignty but this is unlikely to be on the table for negotiations because New Delhi will not look at it. Talk about half-baked ideas such as “shared sovereignty” is not going to move the process much further. The Ulfa leadership needs to be far more realistic and recognise, as have the Nagas, that the Indian State can sustain the limited violence that it can unleash, which in turn angers and alienates the people of Assam.

Bangladeshi factor
There is a Bangladeshi factor here, as mentioned earlier in this column: that the possibility of a pro-India regime in Dhaka after the Parliamentary elections due in that country next year bodes ill for Ulfa and other armed groups based in Bangladesh such as the Hynnyetrip National Liberation Council of Meghalaya’s Khasi hills. They will no longer receive the welcome that they had long enjoyed there as Dhaka puts the finishing touches to an extradition treaty with India and has openly claimed that it had killed a number of Tripura rebels based in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

Western diplomats told me recently that pressure from the political-military establishment in the USA and Britain, deeply concerned about the radical edge of an Islamic surge in Bangladesh, is also beginning to tell on Dhaka.
What is required is for Ulfa to shed its call to arms, to move away from Bangladesh into Assam, to quickly move into a political mode and get a feel of the ground realities by travelling across the state. For this to begin, two or three nominees of the group should start discussions quietly with Indian government officials and its leaders should consider a return to their homes ~ they need to learn that there is strong opposition to them, not merely from political groups such as the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party but also from those who believe in a transparent peace and human rights for all, not a select few, and the families of those who have suffered their wrath and violence.
There is also a group known as the People’s Committee for Peace Initiatives in Assam which has attacked the media for allegedly taking part in a “conspiracy” to derail the Ulfa-New Delhi peace process. This was a response, seemingly on behalf of Ulfa, which got rapped on the knuckles by the media in Assam and other parts of the country blasting it for seeking to intimidate senior editors and journalists in the state. Groups such as Ulfa and the PCPIA should understand that they need the media more than the latter needs them. And such self-proclaimed civil society groups as the PCPIA should be aware too that in the public eye they appear to have become the convenient tools of Ulfa’s propaganda machinery.

Talks in The Hague, hope at home
Another round of talks in The Hague, Netherlands, between the GoI and the National Socialist Council of Nagalim has taken place with a high-level representation from New Delhi, including three political leaders led by Oscar Fernandes, a minister in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government; the others were Prithviraj Chauhan and S Reghupati while long-time interlocutor K Padmanabhiah was also there.

Whatever the outcome of these talks, there is wonderful news out of the little village of Khonoma in Nagaland, the home of the late AZ Phizo, founder of the Naga independence movement. A reconciliation has taken place between two major clans, on the one side the descendants of Phizo, and, on the other, that of Sakhrie, once Phizo’s closest advisor who had a sharp difference of opinion with his former mentor and who was allegedly killed by the leader’s loyalists.
After years of dialogue and discussions between leaders of the two clans, Sebi Dolie, the eldest survivor of the Phizo line, took responsibility for the tragedy, apologised to Shimray’s family and called for reconciliation. The apology was accepted and an old bitterness, not less than 50 years old, finally buried.
It is this reconciliation, this healing between Nagas ~ at the individual, community, tribal and political level that is crucial if agreements at the highest level are to come together and bear fruit. This is the healing touch that must cement the foundation of good politics and strong negotiation.

It is also my view that it is now time for the GoI to call a consultation with the chief ministers and top officials of the neighbouring states of Nagaland as well as Nagaland to brief them on the progress of the talks with the NSCN and seek their views. Such an exercise will open up hearts and minds as well as make the consultations more transparent. However, statements such as that of K Chawang, a spokesman of the NSCN at Kohima recently, do not bode well. Chawang has criticised the media about misinformation about the ongoing talks.
Well, no one really knows what happens at the talks apart from bland statements, platitudes and close aides of both sides! A federal relationship, according to Chawang, on defence, foreign affairs and currency is what is being negotiated. That is not autonomy, according to him. But a federal relationship exists within repeat a federation and is all about autonomy and the extent to which political frameworks can be stretched. I wonder why this point is always missed in such remarks.
The principal stakeholders in the Naga peace process are not just the NSCN and the GoI but the neighbours of Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh whose lands and futures are also at stake. Whether such a consultation can lead to a broadening of the process by which the NSCN leaders also share their views with the political leaders of the three states is yet to be seen, but it appears to be a logical and appropriate way to move ahead. New Delhi is not a real neighbour of the Nagas ~ Assam, Manipur and Arunachal are. [SANJOY HAZARIKA, Statesman]
NE tourism ministers to meet Monday Nagaland Post
Agartala (IANS): The creation of a North-East Tourism Development Fund (NETDF) and the involvement of the North Eastern Council (NEC) in a bigger way are likely to dominate a meet of tourism ministers from eight northeast states that begins Monday. Convened at the initiative of Tourism and Culture Minister Ambika Soni, the meeting begins in Assam's main city of Guwahati. 'The meet will discuss the status of various tourism projects sanctioned by the government for northeastern states, issues concerning project formulation, implementation besides encouragement to the private sector and local entrepreneurs for development of tourism infrastructure,' Santanu Das, Tripura's information and tourism director told IANS.
The meeting will also discuss various package tours and the functioning of hotel management and food craft institutes in the northeast. Issues relating to restricted area permit, protected area permit, inner line permit, now effective in the region, review of the working of the North-East Shilpagram at Dimapur and progress of the multipurpose cultural complex scheme of the culture ministry will also be taken up, another senior official said.
'The tourism ministers will also discuss the status of northeast cultural festivals, infrastructure development and a strengthening programme for the Raja Rammohan Roy Library Foundation,' he said. Tripura Tourism Minister Anil Sarkar, who will not attend the meeting due to ill health, said the northeastern region requires an aggressive marketing strategy to promote its vast potential for adventure and eco-tourism, water sports, tribal and ethnic artefacts and cultures.
A peace process initiated by the central government has already started showing its results on the tourists' inflow as the number of sightseers visiting this part of the country is gradually swelling over the past four years. Tourists have started visiting popular spots like Shillong in Meghalaya and Kaziranga in Assam. Visitors are also using the Assam corridor for travelling to the adjoining states of Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Manipur. New, sprawling airports have replaced the outdated structures at Imphal, Aizawl, Silchar, Agartala and Dimapur. In Nagaland, night buses are plying daily without any incident, the official added.
Border crimes Editorial Nagaland post
It is not known as to whether the Assam Police is responsible for the killing of a person inside Nagaland along the Assam-Nagaland border last Thursday, June 29 at around 9.30 p.m. but reports that the assailants were wearing police uniform only lead to suspicions that they were Assam Police personnel. In addition, an empty case of a service weapon (Self Loading Rifle)was recovered from the site of the killing. Such violations only serve to confirm that there is a policy of muscle flexing by Assam against the backdrop of the demand for unification (integration)of Naga contiguous areas. It may be pointed out that the border dispute with Assam remains unsolved and the case is still pending with the apex court for more than a decade. The dispute pertains to demand by Nagaland for return of large chunks of areas and forest reserves that belong to the Nagas but transferred to Golaghat and Sibsagar during the British rule. In the notification, the British have clearly stated that these forest lands were transferred to Assam from the then Naga Hills purely for administrative convenience. The other motive for the transfer was for setting up tea gardens in the foothill areas. During the process of creating Nagaland, the issue appeared to have been left largely unresolved for the return of the these reserved forests (Kakadanga, Geleki, Nambor, Rengmapani etc).Be that as it may, when Nagaland began to seek the return of these traditional lands during the sixties and seventies, the government of Assam responded with belligerent acts throughout its border with Nagaland that erupted into a mini-war at Merapani during 1985. Assam has been strongly opposing the demands and rather insists that the boundary be on the basis of the post-1925 notification. The border agreement signed between the two states in 1972 was tilted heavily in favour of Assam's control over the disputed areas when the Assam IGP was made the over all commander of all the forces of both states posted along the border. Assam has steadfastly refused to have this agreement reviewed despite persistent pleadings by Nagaland. The neutral forces such as the CRPF or Assam Rifles have their own perception of the dispute but that is not the point. Such incidents as the one in July 29 in Tuli sub-division clearly makes it difficult for the Nagaland Police to operate as per the norms of police law since the IGP Assam is the field marshal of the border areas. The incident comes after a period of lull along the border but certainly it should ring alarm bells as it could lead to further incidents in future. The incident needs to be probed and those guilty of the killing have to be brought to book.
NESO on employment policy for North East The Morung Express
Kohima, July 2 (MExN): The North East Students Organization (NESO) has reminded the Centre that one of the most urgent needs of the northe eastern people of India “is an opportunity to get employment.”
“The problem of unemployment has reached a saturated point where the youths are compelled to stray, often indulging in anti- social activities for want of identification and survival,” NESO said in its recent memorandum submitted to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.
The NESO felt that the Union Government cannot remain a mere spectator and ignore the issues of unemployment, particularly among the uneducated youths of NE.
“It is the bounded duty of the central government to initiate measures to contain the excessive growth of unemployed youths. God forbid, if one day in near future, these multitude of unemployed youths joins hand together and starts a movement which is totally anti-national and violent in nature, then the Government of India will have to bear responsibility,” said a memorandum signed by its Chairman Dr. Samujjal Bhattacharya and General Secretary NSN Lotha, a copy of which was made available here.
The NESO strongly demanded that the Government of India immediately initiate these measures:
That the Union government must take a comprehensive study on the nature, causes and consequences of unemployment problems of youths in the North East by instituting a National Commission for NE unemployed youths so that a clear cut policy for solving the unemployment malady can be evolved.
The NESO strongly urged the Government of India to make NE a special Employment Zone, set up regional Placement/Employment Exchanges in the North East Region with its networking covering the whole of the NE states.
Further, as an immediate short-term relief, the NESO requested for a special economic package purely for generating self-employment avenues for the unemployed youths as well as undertake special recruitment drives. These initiatives must be directly supervised through the Prime Minister’s office with a sub committee at the regional level. Also, the Government of India should review the existing reservation for recruitment of local youths in central offices located in the region.
In addition, all the employment opportunities arising out of the central offices located in the NE in the category of III and IV grade recruitments and filling up of vacancies must be cent per cent reserved for the people of NE with special preferences in I and II grade jobs.
Consultative group’s steps for talks satisfactory: ULFA The Morung Express
GUWAHATI, JULY 2 (Agencies): The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) on Saturday expressed satisfaction over the steps initiated by the People’s Consultative Group (PCG) for facilitating direct talks with the Centre.
In an e-mailed statement, ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa expressed the hope that the Centre would initiate positive steps on the issues raised by the militant outfit through the PCG.
Recently the Centre gave assurances on finding a political solution to the conflict to restore permanent peace in Assam, he said.
During the third round of discussions with the PCG on June 22, the Centre agreed to “consider favourably” the release of top ULFA leaders “in consultation with the State Government.” They are vice-chairman Pradip Gogoi, cultural secretary Pranati Deka, adviser Bhimkanta Buragohain, central publicity secretary Mithinga Daimari and self-styled captain Ramu Mech.
Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil gave the assurance on their release to the ULFA-appointed PCG. He asked the PCG to impress upon the outfit the need to ensure a peaceful and conducive atmosphere for direct talks at the earliest.
The PCG urged the Centre to include the “sovereignty issue” raised by the outfit on the agenda for direct talks. After the Centre-PCG talks, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi reiterated that the State Government was agreeable to releasing the ULFA leaders if the gesture facilitated direct talks.
The ULFA chairman reiterated faith in writer Indira Goswami and former football veteran Rebati Phukan, who coordinated the PCG-Centre discussions.
He, however, cautioned against attempts by “vested forces” to sabotage the peace process.
Positive development Editorial Assam tribune
The stand of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) showing positive response to the peace process is a welcome development and it has given a ray of hope to the people of Asom, who are fed up with violence. The ULFA chairman, Arabinda Rajkhowa finally broke his silence on the issue and said in a statement that the outfit was willing for direct talks with the Government of India and hoped that the promises given in the third round of talks with the People’s Consultative Group (PCG) will be fulfilled. He also thanked noted litterateur Dr Mamoni Raisom Goswami, who took the lead in the move to bring the ULFA to the negotiation table and the members of the PCG for their efforts in carrying forward the peace process. So far the talks between the Government of India and the ULFA were going on through the PCG appointed by the ULFA to pave the way for direct talks and sooner the ULFA leaders come for talks directly with the Government is better for the State. Of course, the mandate of the PCG was only to prepare the ground for talks by informing the Government about the pre-conditions of the ULFA for talks and the group did so in three rounds of talks and it is now up to the Government and the ULFA to create a congenial atmosphere for talks.

In the third round of talks with the PCG, which was chaired by the Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, the Government assured to consider favourably the demand for release of five central committee members of the ULFA as demanded by the outfit to take vital decisions regarding talks and the Asom Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi also made it clear that the State Government had no objection in doing so in the interest of carrying forward the peace process. The question of suspension of hostilities by both the Government and the ULFA is also a major issue and immediately after the last meeting, the PCG issued a statement requesting both sides to maintain restraint. There have been demands from various organisations for suspension of the counter-insurgency operations for creating a congenial atmosphere for talks, but it will be difficult for the Government to completely stop all operations till it receives any concrete assurance from the ULFA as the recent spate of blasts, which rocked the State on the eve of the third round of talks between the Government and the PCG, is still fresh in the minds of everyone. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi was correct when he called for a formal cease-fire agreement between the Government and the ULFA and pointed out that without such a formal agreement, it would be difficult to monitor whether both sides maintained restraint.

The State has seen enough of violence and killings of innocent people including women and children in the last 27 years or so and majority of the people now want an end to the orgy of violence. With the ULFA also showing positive response to the peace process, now the Government should take the opportunity to start direct talks with the outfit as soon as possible to bring an end to the orgy of violence. The Government should also ensure that the talks do not linger for years as it will lead to complications and even the possibility of attempts of sabotage cannot be ruled out as it is now a well established fact that the countries inimical to India are out to create disturbance in the north eastern region of India. At the same time, the Government should also try to expedite the process of political talks with other militant outfits including the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB), United People’s Democratic Solidarity (UPDS), Dima Halam Daogah (DHD) etc as these outfits have already signed cease-fire pacts with the Government and steps should be initiated to find solution to the problems without unnecessarily wasting time.