From Our Correspondent
GUWAHATI: The Naga rebel group , National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah) has stated the recent statement of the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on maintaining the territorial integrity of Manipur and other Northeastern states is ‘unfortunate’ and it may affect the on-going Naga peace process.
Dr Singh during his visit to Imphal in Manipur on December 3 last along with the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi said “The central government is committed to the territorial integrity of Manipur and no special arrangement was being planned for Nagas living outside Nagaland.”
It may be mentioned that the NSCN-IM’s key demand has been integration of all Naga-inhabited areas in the northeast under one administrative umbrella called “Greater Nagalim”. The move has been opposed by all the N-E states especially Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
Obviously, the PM’s statement is not in tune with the demand of the outfit.
In the statement issued to the media the NSCN-IM said, “The entire Nagas are shocked” and viewed his (PM’S) statement as a ‘u-turn to the commitment of seeking solution to the Indo-Naga issue, outside the box’ and to ‘walk the extra mile to seek an honorable political solution in the shortest possible time.” The rebel group said Dr Singh’s statement contradicted the “recognition of the unique history and situation of the Nagas by the Government of India”.
It asserted that “historically, Nagas have their distinct culture and territory under the administrative jurisdiction of the respective chiefs/kings of the villages from time immemorial”.
The NSCN-IM said “Nagas were not a part of the Manipur Durbar (assembly), but they had been ‘divided into many pieces’ and placed under different administrative units in total suppression of the inherent rights of the Nagas”.
The NSCN-IM also pointed out that at the invitation of the government of India to resolve the seven-decade-old Indo-Naga conflict, the two sides had been talking across the table for the last 14 years to seek solution through political means in tune with the mutual commitment for a negotiated honourable settlement.