New Delhi: In a politically assertive speech Wednesday, Thuingaleng Muivah, general secretary of the Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN) threatened to resume armed struggle if the Centre did not follow in letter and spirit the Amsterdam Joint Communique and the Framework Agreement 2015 that officially recognise the ‘Nagalim’s sovereignty’, the ‘Naga national flag’ and the ‘Naga national constitution’.
“…India having lost its political will to implement the letter and spirit of the Framework Agreement, is deliberately forcing Nagalim into the “battlefield” through betrayals and provocative “divide and rule” stratagem. However, we have the confidence and we are prepared to face any challenges or eventualities in the ‘battlefield’ and at the negotiating table,” Muivah’s speech, read by his deputy V.S. Atem, said.
Muivah, a Tangkhul Naga and one of the founding leaders of NSCN(IM), who was visiting his village Somdal in Manipur’s Ukhrul district after over 50 years, reiterated that the “only honourable negotiated political agreement” to the six-decades old insurgency in Nagaland will be one that follows the Amsterdam Joint Communique and the Framework Agreement 2015 in letter and spirit.
“I reiterate again that the only honorable negotiated political agreement shall be according to the letter and spirit of the Amsterdam Joint Communiqué, the Framework Agreement that officially recognises Nagalim unique history, Nagalim sovereignty, sovereign Nagalim territory, the Naga national flag, and the Naga national constitution,” Atem said reading Muivah’s speech.
Muivah’s speech also categorically said that the Naga national flag and Naga national constitution are non-negotiable.
NSCN(IM) has been involved in peace talks with the Government of India for more than two decades now. Despite the Framework Agreement 2015, talks have not made much headway.
Muivah was the chief principal negotiator, when the NSCN(IM) first entered into a ceasefire with the Centre in 1997.
At the centre of the discord is the NSCN(IM)’s demand for creation of Greater Nagaland or Nagalim, which proposes extending Nagaland’s border to include Naga-dominated areas in Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh. The Centre has made it clear that the territorial integrity of Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh will not be tinkered in any way.
The 91-year old Muivah, who travelled in a helicopter from Dimapur, where he lives now, landed to a rousing welcome by thousands of locals and headed to the public meeting at Tangkhul Long Ground attended by Thangkul village heads and Naga organisations. Tired after the journey, Muivah sat on the dias, while his address was first read out by his wife in the local language and later by his deputy V.S. Atem in English.
Muivah made it clear that the Amsterdam Joint Communiqué of 11 July 2002 and the Framework Agreement of 3 August 2015 are the unifying and rallying points for all Nagas today, wherever they may be.
The Amsterdam Joint Communique, and the and the Framework Agreement signed between the Centre and NSCN(IM) recognise the unique history and situation of the Nagas and form the basis for the peace talks.
Though the Framework Agreement was signed in 2015, there has not been much progress on the peace talks since then. Muivah’s address Wednesday reflected the continuing discord with the Centre over their demand for a greater Nagalim.
“It is pertinent and imperative to inform the Naga people that in spite of the milestone steps taken by the two parties, the GoI (Government of India) has betrayed the letter and spirit of the Framework Agreement of August 3, 2015 by refusing to recognise and acknowledge the Nagalim national flag and national constitution. It is concluded that the GoI is not in a position to implement the letter and spirit of the Framework Agreement,” Atem said, reading Muivah’s speech.
Muivah’s speech further said that the Government of India has “orchestrated the strategy of dividing the Naga people from within” to destroy the Amsterdam Joint Communiqué and the Framework Agreement.
“We must be sufficiently warned of their plot with the reactionaries, within and without, who are systematically propagating a distorted version of the Framework Agreement that supports the position of the GoI.”
Muivah, in his address, called upon all Nagas, wherever they are, “not to waver nor cower, but to join the national salvation line”.
Despite his stern tone, Muivah also thanked the Centre, the Nagaland Government and the present Manipur Government for facilitating the itinerary to his birth place Somdal in Ukhrul district.
His visit to his village in Manipur comes at a time when Manipur stands divided on ethnic lines following violent clashes in May 2023 between the non-tribal Meiteis and the tribal Kuki community.
Muivah had tried to visit Ukhrul in 2010, but the then Congress government led by chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh had blocked his entry resulting in violent protests by his supporters on the Manipur-Nagaland border. Six people were killed in police firing.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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