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04/10/2009: "Machiavelli’s Ceasefire and the Indo-Naga Peace Process Nandita Haksar, The author is a human rights lawyer and writer. Mainstream"

Machiavelli’s Ceasefire and the Indo-Naga Peace Process Nandita Haksar, The author is a human rights lawyer and writer. Mainstream

For eleven years the people in the Naga inhabited districts of Manipur have been living in peace ever since a ceasefire was declared between the Indian security forces and the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isac-Muivah) or the NSCN (IM) in 1997. As a result a generation of children has grown up without knowledge or experience of the cordon-and-search operations which invariably resulted in human rights violations of villagers. These children had no idea what it was like to stand for hours in rain or bitter cold while the Indian security forces searched their homes, tortured the men and sexually assaulted the women and young girls.
The children in Shirui Village of Ukhrul District, Manipur State slept soundly and felt no fear when they heard the sound of jeeps coming to their village on January 19, 2009. In fact most of them did not hear anything at all till they were rudely woken up with noise and chaos and they saw hundreds of uniformed and armed Indian security forces occupy every nook and corner of their village. The children were filled with fear and some went silent with terror while others started screaming.
It was 2 am and the winter cold was still severe. The Assam Rifles woke up the young headman and occupied his house. Soon the villagers understood what was going on. The Assam Rifles had come with the intention of attacking the NSCN (IM) camp established in the Tourist Lodge near the village. The Tourist Lodge was supposed to accommodate the tourists who came every year to see the famous Lily which blossomed every year in May at the height of 2590 metres on top of the Shirui peak but like so many government projects it was left incomplete and the Lodge had stood like a haunted house with no windows or doors. The Lodge had been restored when the NSCN occupied it.
The villagers panicked because they knew that there were many NSCN cadres inside the camp and all of them were well trained and heavily armed. If the Assam Rifles attacked the camp, the NSCN cadres would retaliate and there would be many casualties. The villagers were horrified to see the Assam Rifles put a barbed wire fence around the NSCN camp and cut off their water supply.
The villagers decided to send all the children down to Ukhrul, the district headquarters 18 kms away, and that is how the Tangkhul women’s organisation heard of the siege of Shirui. The leaders of the Tangkhul women’s organisation met together and decided that they should send a delegation to Shirui and talk to the Assam Rifles officers. representatives of the various Tangkhul organisations (Ukhrul is the home of the Tangkhul Naga Community) went up to the village. The CO of the 17 Assam Rifles was furious with the women, he said they were interfering in their work. They said they were just doing their job as peace-makers.
The Tangkhul women’s organisation (Tangkhul Shanao Long) organised a 24-hour vigil with groups of 50 women sitting all day and night out in the open next to the NSCN camp in the line of fire of whichever party decided to shoot first. They prayed, sang hymns and they even played games. The local villagers took courage from the show of solidarity from the women who came from neighbouring villages, from Ukhrul town and then as the news spread they came from distant villages. Naga public leaders also came from other Naga inhabited districts within Manipur and from Nagaland.
The siege continued for 15 days and the women had to organise food, tea and firewood for the women sitting all day and all night in the bitter cold. They also had to provide tea and snacks to the public leaders who visited the village and also those who took part in the sit-in at Ukhrul demanding the withdrawal of the Assam Rifles. The Assam Rifles personnel occupying the village numbered anywhere from 500 to 800 and they took vegetables, chicken and firewood from the village without paying any compensation. After the siege was lifted the villagers estimated that they had suffered losses amounting to 11 lakhs.
The siege was lifted and the problem was resolved because the Home Minister was going to visit Nagaland and Manipur and he wanted the problem resolved before he landed. Five Tangkhul elders were requested to negotiate with the Assam Rifles and finally it was agreed by all parties that the NSCN cadres along with their arms and ammunition would be escorted by the five elders and Assam Rifles to their designated camp at Oklong in Senapati District of Mnaipur State. More than 20 vehicles formed a convoy that left on February 2 from Shirui to Oklong.
Although the siege ended, it left behind in its wake a raging controversy about the legality of the NSCN camp and the ceasefire monitoring mechanism. A Manipur Government spokesman and some spokesmen of the Indian Army denied the existence of the NSCN designated camps in Manipur while others maintained that there were three camps which were “taken note of” but they did not include the camp at Shirui; and some denied that the ceasefire between the NSCN and the Union of India extended to Manipur while others said that the ceasefire was unofficially in place and that is why there had been no encounters for the past 11 years.
Four lawyers—Nandita Haksar, Timikha Koza, Sebastian Hongray and Edward Belho—formed a team and went into the whole question and released their report at Kohima on March 14, 2009 after a three-week study. The daily newspapers in both States carried the report but the national media ignored the entire issue.
The Lawyers Team found that the Shirui camp had been approved by the Ceasefire Monitoring Group way back in 2007. The letter written by the former Chairman of the Ceasefire Monitoring Group (CFMG), Lt Gen R V Kulkarni (Retd) to Shri Naveen Verma, Joint Secretary (NE) Ministry of Home Affairs No CFMG/IM/2007-1566 dated 06-02-2007 is on the “situation in Ukhrul District of Manipur” and clearly states that the new location of the camp of the NSCN “stands approved”.
The team met the PRO of the Indian Army, Col Rajesh Sharma, at Imphal and asked him about the position of the designated camps in Manipur. On March 2, 2009 the Colonel told the team that he would check with the headquarters and give his reply the next day. True to his promise he gave the team his official answers: he said, according to the Ministry of Defence and the Army, there were no designated camps of the NSCN (IM) in Manipur and that the NSCN cadres were not taken to any camp in Senapati.
This denial of the existence of the camps came as a shock since the Minister of Defence, Shri A K Antony, had written in his letter DO No 22 (1)2009/D (GS-1)/773-F/RM dated February 18, 2009 to Shri Mani Charenamei, MP that “NSCN (IM) cadres moved out from Shiroy on 2nd February, 2009 to Oklang (a camp taken note of) in Senapati District thereby defusing the situation”.
The present Chairman of the Ceasefire Monitoring Group, Maj Gen Mandhata Singh (Retd), told the team of lawyers that he had been contacted on the first day of the Shirui siege but when he checked with the Home Ministry he was told he had no jurisdiction in Manipur since the ceasefire did not extend to that State. When he was asked how the former Chairman had dealt with the incidents in Manipur he said he had no records of the decisions taken at the time and he had not ever met Lt Gen Kulkarni before taking charge as Chairman of the CFMG. This was indeed strange since Lt Gen Kulkarni had been handling the job for more than ten years.
Maj Gen Mandhata Singh refused to speculate on why the Assam Rifles had taken this provocative action in Shirui. However, a human rights activist told the lawyers’ team that during the Shirui siege one of the Assam Rifles officers had remarked that they were in a mess because of the Pfutsero incident a few days earlier.
In that incident a Captain of the Assam Rifles had driven right into an NSCN designated camp on January 8, 2009 in Phek District of Nagaland in violation of the ground rule which clearly states that the Indian security forces will not go within one kilometre of any designated camp. The NSCN had disarmed the Captain and his five jawans. On the intervention of the local leaders they had released the officer and jawans but handed the arms only the next day when Maj Gen Mandatha Singh had flown to Pfutsero in a helicopter. Although he had defused the situation and there was no controversy over the existence of the designated camp the question on everyone’s mind was why did a Captain “wander” into the NSCN camp in the first place. Curiously, the Captain had been a Meitei.
Neither the Pfutsero not the Shirui incidents are isolated incidents. The Assam Rifles has been behaving in a provocative way and the Addl Chief Secretary (Home), Nagaland Government, Mr Lalthara, told the lawyers team that his government had expressed its concern about the way Assam Rifles was patrolling near the NSCN (IM) designated camps in an “irritating way”. The CFMG cannot effectively stop the Assam Rifles but it can only intervene in specific cases brought to its notice. The Ceasefire Monitoring Group was set up way back in 1997 after the ceasefire agreement was signed between the NSCN (IM) and the Union of India. The members of the CFMG consisted of members of the security forces, intelligence agencies, government officials and members of the NSCN. The job of the CFMG was to enforce the Ceasefire Ground Rules.
The ceasefire Ground Rules had been made in a Review Committee which consisted of members of both the Union of India and the NSCN (IM). Both parties sit together and make the rules and review the rules from time to time. However, the rules or even the ceasefire agreement are not signed documents.
In addition to the Review Committee there is a ceasefire monitoring cell of the NSCN (IM) as well and that has actively enforced the ground rules and disciplined its own cadres if they violate the rules.
The entire ceasefire monitoring mechanism was a unique experiment in democratic principles. However, instead of the ceasefire providing an atmosphere for the political negotiations it became the centre of political controversy. The State of Manipur objected to the formal extension of the ceasefire to the State on the ground that they were not party to the Agreement and that the ceasefire extension would amount to conceding the main demand of the Nagas: the integration of the Naga areas under one administration within the Indian Constitution. The Meiteis (the people living in Manipur Valley who are mainly Vaishnavites) civil society also opposed the extension of the ceasefire to the State on the ground that it would threaten the “integrity of Manipur State”.
Thus the controversy has raged and most of the 70 rounds of talks between Government of India and the NSCN (IM) has been around the issue of extension of the ceasefire to all territory where NSCN operates which includes parts of North-East which are clearly not Naga inhabited areas such as Tripura.
Thus there is a strange constitutional problem: the Nagas are demanding the integration of Naga inhabited areas which are all contiguous—the present State of Nagaland, four districts of Manipur, a part of Assam and a part of Arunachal. This political demand is a demand which can be easily accommodated within the Constitution of India since under our Constitution it requires a simple majority in Parliament to change the boundaries of the States which were created for administrative convenience and not with peoples’ consent. However, the Union of India has refused to concede this demand.
On the other hand the Meiteis are demanding that the integrity and unity of Manipur be respected since the boundaries of the Manipur State go back to 2000 years. The Indian Constitution does not recognise the “integrity and unity” of States within India. In order to fulfil this demand the Meiteis would have to fight for a more federal system by which the boundaries of States cannot be changed except through a complex political negotiation as in the USA.
Both these political demands need to be negotiated. However, these political differences are being utilised by intelligence agencies to create divisions between the Nagas living in the Hill Districts and the Meiteis living in the Valley. Both the Nagas and Meiteis had in the past come together to fight against the imposition of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 and together they had succeeded in making the issue a national issue. However, the tensions over the ceasefire has led to communalisation of the issue and a section of the Meitei civil society is even asking for more security forces to curb the NSCN. This is the context in which the recommendation of the Lawyers Committee should be understood and supported: that the ceasefire should be “officially extended without territorial limit with an explicit clause to indicate that the extension of the ceasefire is a purely administrative measure and has no political connotations or implications”.
They have also recommended that the entire ceasefire monitoring mechanism must be made more transparent so that incidents such as the one at Shirui do not occur again. The Indo-Naga political negotiations which started off as being a unique democratic experiment has been sabotaged by intelligence agencies to serve their Machiavellian politics of divide and rule.
Unresolved Naga problem main issue in LS polls The Hindu
Kohima (PTI): Election in the lone Nagaland Lok Sabha constituency has always been dominated by the unresolved Naga political problem. Any party which aspires to represent the state in the Parliament promises to resolve the issue in a bid to get voters support, but the problem remains where it has always been ever since the state was formed in 1963. The constituency is witnessing a direct fight between C M Chang of NPF and former two term MP Asungba Sangtam of Congress in the April 16 parliamentary poll, though there is a candidate from Trinamool Congress too.
Both the main contending parties are wooing the voters by accusing each other of not doing enough for resolving the vexed problem. Both promise to pursue the Centre for an early settlement of the protracted problem if they win the election.
The state also goes to by-polls in four assembly seats. Whether it was assembly or parliamentary election, every electoral exercise has experienced large voter turn-out in Nagaland despite boycott calls by underground organisations.
Till the emergence of Congress into political arena of Nagaland in late seventies, this seat was represented by either of the two regional outfits. Although in past three decades none from Nagaland was accommodated in the central ministry, former chief minister and present Maharashtra governor S C Jamir got berth in Indira Gandhi's cabinet in the 70s. The veteran Naga politician was also a parliamentary secretary during Nehru's tenure.
With the emergence of Congress, the regional politics also gathered its strength in electoral politics and by and large both the contenders captured the lone parliamentary seat equally in the past three decades. Riding on the Janata wave during emergency era Rano Seiza, only lady parliamentarian from the state till date, wrested this seat with a landslide victory which further strengthened the regional politics in the state.
The Congress wrested the seat in 1998 parliamentary election when the party was in power in the state but this poll was boycotted by other political parties under a peculiar political circumstance. I In the next year's election, the Congress retained the seat in a triangular contest which was also fought by BLP, the first foray into Nagaland electoral politics. But in 2004, NPF swept the poll with a record margin.
However, its MP voted in favour of Congress during the trust motion last year in Parliament defying the regional party's whip.
Beginning with hardly three lakh voters in early sixties, the number of electorate now touches 13 lakh with a sizeable number of young voters who are key to the electoral fortune of a candidate. Nearly 90 per cent of voters comprises the tribal population in the state. Much depends on a political contender's ability to convince village or community elders who generally take decisions for the entire village as to whom they should extend their support based on local issues.
Naga Peace Process: Which Way Forward? Mirza Zulfiqur Rahman MPhil Student, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi: mirzalibra10@gmail.com

The Naga peace process which started in 1997 is about to complete twelve years, without any political breakthrough being achieved in the several decades-long insurgency movement. The Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagalim, Isak-Muivah faction (NSCN (I-M)) which has been in numerous rounds of deliberations with the Indian government ever since the peace process started, has not been able to take the necessary steps to finalize any concrete peace deal. The talks have stumbled on two major issues – one, of territoriality which involves the integration of all Naga-inhabited areas of Northeast India and Myanmar and two, on the issue of a solution under the ambit of the Indian Constitution. Two governments have passed by in the national scene, one led by the Bharatiya Janata Party and the other by the Congress (I), but both have failed to find a political solution to the Naga question.

The talk of an interim solution to the Naga question was raised at intervals by the central government, the state government and the NSCN (I-M) ever since the year 2004; and when the idea of an interim solution can take five long years to gain any sort of fruition, we can very well assess the time required to arrive at a final political solution. As the next round of talks start at Zurich in Switzerland by end of March 2009, the interim proposals are still being discussed and reworked, and the stage for a possible confrontation has been set by the declaration by NSCN (I-M) leader Isak Chisi Swu that any relationship within the ambit of the Indian Constitution will be unacceptable.

There have been many versions of the possible motives behind these never-ending parleys between the central government and the NSCN ((I-M)). Accusations have been made of the central government deliberately delaying the move towards a solution and at the same time working towards destabilizing the NSCN (I-M) by engineering splits and factional fights within. The NSCN (I-M) has also been accused of trying to establish its dominance across Nagalim, and eliminating its opposing factions, before it reaches a final settlement. The involvement of the NSCN (K) (Khaplang) faction in a separate ceasefire with the central government and its role in an ultimate political solution has been intensely contentious.

The conspiracy theories may be many, accusing the central government, the state government, the NSCN (I-M) and the NSCN (K), of delaying the peace or derailing the peace, but the fact remains that the ultimate casualty is the peace process itself. We have to understand that the huge obsession with these formal processes among these aforementioned actors, results in the increasing marginalization of civil society and people’s initiatives in the overall peace process and its bearing on an ultimate solution.

The civil society organizations in Nagaland such as the Forum for Naga Reconciliation, the Naga Hoho and many other women’s and students’ organizations have played an important role in laying the groundwork for the emergence of lasting peace in the region. These are the actors who are working as a bridge between the various regions which comprises Nagalim, in Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur and parts of Myanmar; and without any substantial political overtones. They have been successful in reaching out to communities, both Naga and other ethnic tribes, and promoting dialogue and understanding at the civil society level between contesting aspirations of communities in the region, which the political outfits engaged in talks have not been able to do. They have joined efforts to talk to top rebel leaders to stop fratricidal killings among Naga insurgent factions and extortions and threats, and to include more women in the peace talks.

The marginalization of civil society organizations creates conditions for increased factionalism and violence, as demonstrated by the emergence of NSCN (U) (Unification) and the resultant increase in fratricidal killings. The Forum for Naga Reconciliation recently called for turning swords into ploughshares, and for working creatively towards ensuring enduring peace and a lasting solution to the Naga question.

As Subir Bhowmick points out, the NSCN (I-M) have an excellent opportunity to hold on to what the Indian government has offered, which is the ‘special federal relationship,’ under which the present talks are progressing, as this has been unprecedented in the history of state responses towards armed insurrections in India. The fuller potential of this sort of peace deal would be known when it comes to a final solution and the exact contours of the ‘special federal relationship’ emerge. If successful this could unlock solutions to many problems that confront Northeast India today. Moreover, the peace talks at the political level should not be kept under wraps, as has been the case till now, as transparency would enable a fuller participation of civil society organizations to make it more meaningful to the various stakeholders in the region, most prominently the Naga people.
Time for Nagas to choose right candidate: Rio Our Correspondent Morung

(L–R): C M Chang, DAN consensus candidate, NPF president Dr. Shurhozelie Liezietsu, Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, Kuzholuzo (Azo) Nienu, Minister for health & family welfare, and NPF candidate Deo Nukhu, at the DAN rally held at Chizami on Wednesday, April 8. (Morung Photo)

Chizami | April 9: Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Wednesday stated that a time has come for people to ponder over carefully to choose the right candidate to represent Naga people at the parliament.
Speaking at the DAN rally here for the Lok Sabha and by-elections to the 17th Chizami Assembly Constituency here today, Rio said Nagaland has only one Lok Sabha seat and for which the people must send correct candidate who can speak for Naga issues at the parliament and fulfill the aspiration of Naga people. Referring to various developmental activities under DAN government in the last 6 years, Rio said each state has its share of funds for development adding that any government at the Centre would allot fund for the same.
Stating that DAN stands for development of the state, NPF president Dr. Shurhozelie Liezietsu appealed to the party workers to come together and work collectively towards making a better Nagaland. On the Congress accusing DAN of rampant corruption and no development, he said the DAN government has done a lot, adding that the people are the best judge.
DAN consensus candidate for Lok Sabha polls, CM Chang, NPF candidate Deo Nukhu for by-election to 17th Chizami A/C, Minister for health & family welfare, Kuzholuzo (Azo) Nienu, CM’s advisor Z Lohe, former speaker Neiba Ndang and former Independent candidate Kevechutso Duolo also addressed the rally.
High level Delhi team reviews Assam serial blasts Exonomic Times
GUWAHATI: In the wake of the serial blasts, a high level team from Delhi reviewed the law and order situation in Assam. The team comprising Cabinet secretary K M Chandrasekhar, home secretary Madhukar Gupta and defence secretary Vijay Singh, on Wednesday reviewed the Assam security scene in the run up to polls.

On Tuesday, the team had reviewed the situation in Nagaland and held discussions with state government officials there. Sources in the Assam government said the state has sought more central para military forces. The state presently has around 145 companies of Central forces for counter-insurgency operations.

NSCN (IM) accused of threatening Adanee's men The Sangai Express
Imphal, April 09 2009: Activists of the armed NSCN (IM) have been accused of intervening and enforcing ban against election campaign of BJP candidate for the Outer manipur parliamentary constituency Loli Adanee.Raising the issue at an election rally in Chandel district headquarters today, former Tangkhul Nagalong (TNL) president Ramthing Hungyo said he received a telephone call this morning from an NSCN (IM) member not to participate in any election campaigns of the BJP nominee.

Pointing to the PDA election manifesto wherein safeguard/protection of human rights has been pledged, Ramthing observed that with armed NSCN (IM) activists joining election campaigns in support of Mani Charenamei but at the same time threatening political workers of other candidates it is unlikely human rights could be assured as had been highlighted in the PDA manifesto.
recounting comments of the present Nagaland Chief minister Neiphiu Rio, during campaigning for the nagaland assembly election, to vote for the Naga People's Front with the assertion to solve the vexed Naga political issue within six months, the former TNL functionary maintained that rather than solve the issue Rio had been the chief factor for the spate of bloodshed in Nagaland.

Apart from failure to find a solution to the Naga issue, the problem has been further aggravated owing to factionalism and formation of armed splinter groups consequently increasing bloodshed among the Nagas, he maintained while expressing that PDA working in tandem with the NPF is sowing seed of hatred in manipur as well.

Regarding Charenamei speaking in support of the UPA Government in the Parliament, Ramthing said other than berating reaction from the retired Chief of Army Staff JJ Singh to the MP's comment there had been no appreciation to Charenamei's stance.

Charenamei not only betrayed cause of the nagas but has let down the people by adopting double standard through his pledge for Naga sovereignty while in New Delhi which is being diluted on the planks of Naga integration upon returning to the home soil, Ramthing opined and asked Charenamei not to mislead the Naga people.
Substantiating his observation, the BJP political campaigner pointed to Charenamei speaking about Naga integration during election rallies in Ukhrul and Tamenglong districts with the tone substituted by pledge for formation of a separate tribal entity (State) when electorates of Churachandpur are addressed and urged the people to decide whether or not to trust Charenamei.
Bashing of the MP persisted at the BJP meeting with former election contestant Athon Abonmai accusing Charenamei of misusing crores of rupees allotted to implement welfare programmes for the tribal people in the State including withdrawal of Rs 23 lakhs under the pretext of constructing a boys' hostel in Lambung of Chandel district.

In accumulating personal wealth from the public money in terms of crores of rupees Charenamei had been baffling the public with concocted claim that substantial amount had been handed over to the NSCN (IM), Abonmai alleged.

In his address to the gathering, Loli Adanee said as Chandel district has tremendous potential to become highway of south East Asia there is urgent need for infrastructural development in the district so as to boost economic activities.

lamenting that people of the land have become political 'slave' owing to various atrocities perpetrated by security forces, Adanee said to free the people from such bondage removal of the draconian Armed Forces' Special powers Act 1958 has become inevitable.

For development of the hill districts, the BJP nominee stressed on surface connectivity through an inter-district link road that would facilitate economic transportation of goods, holding of District council elections and extension of Sixth Schedule in the hill districts for which he sought mandate of the people. Adanee also desired cooperation and understanding between the two representatives from the State in scheming development plans as failure to jointly pursue and uphold interest of people of manipur in the Indian Parliament is certain to result in further corrosion of the State in all aspects.

As certain pockets of the valley areas fall within the Outer manipur Parliamentary Constituency, canvassing support for Adanee was also undertaken today by State unit BJP leaders including former Chief Minister RK Dorendra Singh at Nongpok Sekmai, Usikhong Keithel, Ukhongsang Maning Leikai etc.

UCM critical of campaigning for integrity, disintegration The Sangai Express
Imphal, April 09 2009: "If you must speak for Nagaland, you may fight elections in Nagaland instead of wasting one MP seat of Manipur once again", said the United Committee Manipur (UCM) .

Reacting to the poll agenda of territorial integrity being raked up by Congress in the Inner Parliamentary constituency and Naga unification in the Outer seat by PDA, UCM president Yumnamcha Dilipkumar called upon the people to analyse minutely the act of crying hoarse by candidates as if they really love the land as well as the act of speaking for another State while living in Manipur.

Addressing a press meet here today, the UCM president asked all concerned not to challenge the territorial integrity of Manipur.

Saying that UCM is still standing firm on its stance, Dilipkumar asserted that UCM would not tolerate any design to disintegrate Manipur.

Appreciating the assurance of AICC General Secretary Rahul Gandhi that territorial boundaries of the North Eastern States including will not be altered and the declaration of Chief Minister I Ibobi that there would be no compromise on the question of the State's territorial integrity, Dilipkumar said that he would like to see the assurances put into action. On the other hand, election manifesto of the Congress party published in Nagaland endorsed Naga integration. Further, Jet Leho, advisor to Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio has announced that the DAN Government led by NPF supports PDA candidate Mani Charenamei.

Asserting that people have people full knowledge about how Mani Charenamei got elected with the support of which organisation, the UCM also recalled that Mani Charenamei voted in favour of UPA Government at the time of taking vote of confidence on the reported assurance that the UPA Government's common minimum programme which guaranteed the territorial integrity of Manipur would be reviewed.

Dilipkumar said that the UCM has taken serious note of the ambiguity of Congress on the issue of Manipur's territorial integrity. He further asserted that people ought to teach fitting lessons to both ambiguous Congress and Mani Charenamei.

Referring to the vocal claim by candidates to remove Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) if they are elected, the UCM president said these politicians who become dumb once elected to Assembly should also be taught fitting lessons.