Days after Ministry of Home Affairs said that it has no plans to re-enter into a ceasefire agreement with NSCN-K, the outfit on Wednesday said that the outfit had unilaterally withdrew from Indo-Naga ceasefire and is fully prepared to face any eventuality.
Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs Satyendra Garg had on Monday said that there is no initiative from the Government of India to re-enter the ceasefire with the NSCN-K led by its chairman SS Khaplang. Garg said this while interacting with media after reviewing the overall law and order situation in Meghalaya. He had also said that the counter-insurgency operations against the NSCN-K will continue.
“It must be understood that NSCN-K unilaterally withdrew from Indo-Naga ceasefire and is fully prepared to face any eventuality. Any future political steps will solely be determined by NSCN-K taking into account the interest of the Naga people and the unresolved “Sovereignty issue”,” said military spokesman of the NSCN-K, Isak Sumi on Wednesday.
“The whims or inclination of India’s MHA to re-enter or not to re-enter into ceasefire with NSCN-K necessarily does not arise at all,” he said in a statement issued to the media on Wednesday.
It may be mentioned here that a group of people representing the apex body Naga Hoho and Eastern Nagaland Peoples Organisation (ENPO) has reached Myanmar to convince the NSCN (K) and to bring them back to peace talks. The Nagaland state legislative assembly had also urged upon the Government of India resume the cease-fire agreement with the NSCN –K for permanent peace in the State.
The NSCN-K led by its chairman SS Khaplang had signed a ceasefire with the government of India in 2001. However, the outfit had on March last year abrogated from the ceasefire and intensified its attack on security forces since then.
The outfit last year dealt a lethal blow to the security forces by ambushing a convoy of the security forces at Chandel in Manipur and killed 18 soldiers. Following this the security forces too launched an operation against the outfit and the Government of India subsequently banned the outfit for five years.