With the signing of the Naga Peace Accord by the NSCN (IM) with the Central Government, the people in Nagaland are now waiting to see the contents of the historic accord.
While most of the people welcomed the move, some organisations as well as a sections of people in other North-eastern States have expressed their apprehensions over the accord and said that it should not affect the interests of other States.
President of the apex body of Nagaland — Naga Hoho — Chuba Ozukum expressed happiness over signing of the accord and hoped that it will bring a lasting solution. “It has been a long-standing demand of the people. However, it is difficult to say much about it as I am yet to see the contents of the accord,” he said.
Former Nagaland CM SC Jamir, however, expressed his apprehensions over the peace accord saying, “Without knowing the content of the accord, it is difficult to comment.”
However, some organisations and individuals in Nagaland said that the accord will be of no use if it has not addressed the issue of the greater Nagalim. “The people of Nagaland are struggling for the Nagalim for over the past six decades. Nagalim should be the main agenda of the accord,” said an activist.
NSCN (IM) chairman Isac Chisi Swu and general secretary Thuimgaleng Muivah have been engaged in a dialogue with the Centre since 1997 when they had signed a ceasefire. Both Swu and Muivah had held several rounds of talks with the Government and in different countries, including Paris, Zurich, Osaka, New York, Geneva and Bangkok. Both the leaders joined the Naga National Council (NNC) in the early sixties. While Swu was Foreign Secretary of the “Federal Government of Nagaland”, Muivah was General Secretary of the NNC. The two comrades along with “general” Thenousalie Keyho were the ones who were first to contact with Chinese leaders. They had also travelled far and wide in China and received Beijing’s assistance to fight New Delhi.
The main demand of the NSCN (I-M) was to establish a sovereign State by unifying all the Naga-inhabited areas in the Northeast and northern Myanmar which they had proposed as Nagalim. Unification of all Naga communities under one administration and liberating Nagalim from India is listed as one of the main objectives of the organisation.
While the NSCN (IM) signed the Naga Peace Accord with the Central Government on Monday, another faction of the outfit led by its chairman SS Khaplang is still continuing their struggles. The faction known as NSCN (K) had in March this year broke a 14-year old ceasefire agreement with the Government of India and started targeting the security forces at least in three States of the region — Nagaland, Manipur and in Arunachal Pradesh.