New Delhi: National Socialist Council of Nagaland – Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM), in a statement released on Saturday (September 9), said that a solution to the seven-decade-old Naga political conflict is not possible under the Indian constitution, without a separate flag and constitution for the Nagas.
The statement has come days after the Union government resumed talks with the insurgent group.
NSCN-IM said this was the “coherent voice” at the end of the consultative meeting at Mayangkhang at Senapati (in Manipur) on September 8. The meeting was held to apprise the leaders and the ‘executive steering committee’ about developments in the ongoing Naga political issue, the Deccan Herald reported.
The meeting concluded with the resolve to stand by the core issues in the ‘Framework Agreement’ signed with the Union government in August 2015, the report said.
This was NSCN-IM’s first statement after the Union resumed talks with the outfit on August 25 in Delhi in which its general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah took part.
The Naga talks have been formally resumed by the Union government at a time when the community’s neighbours in the Manipur hills, the Kukis, have begun demanding a “separate administration” from the Union government.
Also read: Stalemate in Naga Peace Talks Due to Centre’s Lack of Commitment: NSCN (I-M)
On August 14 this year, celebrated as Independence Day by the NSCN-IM, Muivah had said, “The flag and constitution are naturally inseparable from the sovereignty of a people. It is universally an accepted truth that the flag and constitution are constituent parts of sovereignty. There is no ambiguity about it. The Indian leaders understand it too. They must take the stand to speak the truth.”
Naga groups including the NSCN-IM claim that the Nagas were never part of India and declared “independence” on August 14, 1947. The NSCN-IM had led the insurgent movement for decades before entering into a ceasefire in 1997.
The Union and NSCN-IM leaders had signed the Framework Agreement in Delhi on August 3, 2015 in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi but a final agreement based on this framework was not signed due to NSCN-IM’s insistence on a separate flag and Constitution for the Nagas and “integration” of all Naga inhabited areas (Nagaland and parts of Manipur and Assam).
While the Union rejected the proposal, the Naga groups were allowed to use their flag during cultural events. NSCN-IM also claimed that the Union had agreed for “shared sovereignty” with the Nagas in the 2015 agreement. The contents of the 2015 agreement have not been made public by the central government.
