DIMAPUR:
The working committee of the seven-member Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs) said it is against the United Democratic Alliance’s (UDA) chairman TR Zeliang’s recent statement in the media that he would seek the “highest offer” from the Centre in the Indo-Naga political solution.
The working committee of the NNPGs, in a statement issued on March 15, said, “Conducting pre-emptive strikes in the corridors of power in New Delhi seeking, in their own words, ‘highest offer’ in the impending Indo-Naga political solution goes against the principle of Agreed Position.”
Earlier on November 17, 2017, the NNPGs and the Centre had signed the “Agreed Position” declaring the opposition-less government to facilitate the Naga peace talks.
The committee expressed surprise that with each passing day Zeliang’s media utterances sound more like a “third party negotiator” in the Indo-Naga political talks. Advising Zeliang to understand the word “facilitator”, it asked him whether he is facilitating or doing “something else”.
The NNPGs stressed that the UDA, with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as its ally in the opposition-less Nagaland government, must bear moral responsibility should the October 31, 2019, declaration of conclusion of political talks by all the negotiating entities be kept on the backburner.
They added that the Naga people are aware that the then government of India’s interlocutor RN Ravi and the Naga negotiators officially declared the political negotiations as concluded on October 31, 2019.
Saying that the declaration of conclusion of talks marks the end of the facilitator’s role, they said the onus now lies with the Naga negotiators and the government of India to fulfil the people’s aspiration. The committee added that the Indo-Naga issue is not an “antique jewellery to be auctioned in New Delhi”.
Asserting that the negotiations have concluded between the government of India and the Naga negotiators, the NNPGs said there are better and greater communication channels between the government of India and its working committee.
“To hurt the Naga sentiment, ignoring the repeated appeal and demand of apex tribal bodies and civil societies, as history recalls, would invite the most painful humiliation for any leader,” they cautioned.
Also, reminding that the BJP adopted the slogan “election for solution” in the 2018 Nagaland Assembly elections, the NNPGs said if elections are announced in the state without Indo-Naga political agreement, there will be unprecedented reactions and harsh consequences from the Naga people whom the party betrayed.