No decision on separate passport, flag for Nagas: Rijiju

New Delhi: Government on Wednesday denied having agreed to a proposal of Naga insurgent outfit NSCN-IM of granting separate passport and flag for Nagas saying peace talks with the group was still continuing.
“Government recognises the unique Naga history and is committed to it. Talks with NSCN-IM is going on. News of granting separate passport and flag are not true,” Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju told reporters here. Rijiju’s comments came in the wake of reports which suggested that the government has agreed to NSCN-IM’s proposal for separate passport and flag for Nagas. With an aim of ending insurgency in Nagaland, government, had in August last year signed an accord with NSCN-IM which Prime Minister Narendra Modi described as a “historic” step to usher in peace in the state. The pact was signed in the presence of the Prime Minister, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval by the outfit’s leader T Muivah and government’s interlocutor R N Ravi at the PM’s residence here. The signing of the pact cane after over 80 rounds of negotiations that spanned 16 years with first breakthrough in 1997 when the ceasefire agreement was sealed.
While National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isaac-Muivah) is the biggest Naga rebel group which has been maintaining the ceasefire, another faction led by S S Khaplang continues to indulge in violence and was believed to be behind the deadly attack on army in Manipur in June 2015 that left 18 soldiers dead and 18 injured. (PTI)