New Delhi: Nagaland government on Monday asked the Centre to expedite the ongoing peace talks with NSCN(IM) and find a permanent solution to the six-decade old insurgency problem before the state Assembly election due early next year.
A high-level delegation, headed by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, today met Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and placed the demand saying this was the desire of the “peace- loving people” of the Northeastern state.
“We have requested the Union Home Minister to expedite the talks with NSCN(IM) and find a solution before the assembly election,” Nagaland Home Minister Imkong Imchem, who was part of the delegation, told PTI here.
The term of 60-member Nagaland Assembly ends on March 26, 2013. It is widely believed that if a pact is signed before the polls, the leadership of the Naga rebel group can take part in the democratic process.
The move comes amidst reports that the Centre has secured a written commitment from NSCN(IM) that it will accept the Indian constitution and recognised the impracticality of redrawing state boundaries in the interest of peace in the Northeast.
When contacted, Interlocutor for Naga peace talks R S Pandey refused to comment on the development saying his priority was to find out an acceptable solution to all at the earliest.
“We always want to expedite the peace process,” he said.
Imchem said if NSCN(IM) has given the written communication, it was a “very good development”.
In August, all 60 legislators of Nagaland, cutting across party-lines, had appealed to the Prime Minister to finalise an acceptable solution to the Naga issue before assembly polls next year with Chief Minister Rio even offering to step down to facilitate formation of a party-less interim government to take forward the peace process.
The legislators even told Singh that they would prefer a final settlement to the issue, noting that 15 years of ceasefire and political dialogue with NSCN(IM) was enough for the Centre to understand the issue and arrive at a solution.
NSCN(I-M) had entered into a ceasefire with the Centre in 1997 and NSCN(K) also followed suit in 2001 and so far over 60 rounds of talks were held between NSCN(I-M) leaders and the Centre’s representatives.
In May, 1998, the union government had appointed Swaraj Kaushal as the first peace negotiator. He continued in his post till July 1999. R S Pandey, a former Petroleum Secretary and a 1972 batch Nagaland cadre IAS officer, was appointed as the new interlocutor on February 11, 2010. (PTI)