PM discusses Naga ceasefire

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JULY 26. On the eve of the crucial meeting of Chief Ministers from the northeastern States, the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, held consultations with senior officials on the law and order situation in the region. The ceasefire between the Centre and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (I-M) is to expire on July 31, and its proposed extension to the whole region has provoked widespread apprehension and protest, especially in Manipur.

Apart from the Union Home Minister, Mr. L.K. Advani, senior officials were at hand to help the Prime Minister formulate the Centre's stand at the Chief Ministers' conference tomorrow. The Manipur Governor, Mr. Ved Marwah, has already held consultations with the Prime Minister.

The Centre has already found itself constrained to ask its special negotiator, Mr. K. Padamanabhaiah, to travel to Amsterdam and re-open negotiations with the NSCN (I-M) leaders. Indications are that the NSCN (I-M) leaders are not averse to examining the ceasefire extension in such a way as to accommodate the apprehensions in Manipur.

Even today Mr. Advani had to give audience to a delegation of Manipur MPs and MLAs, who demanded the withdrawal of the truce. Led by the Union Minister of State, Mr. Chaoba Singh, the delegation wanted an assurance that the Centre would be mindful of Manipur's apprehension.

The Manipur MPs and MLAs, who have been camping here, have got sympathy from almost the entire political spectrum, and the Vajpayee Government finds itself handicapped by the fact that Manipur is under President's rule. The popular sentiment there has been whipped up against the ceasefire extension to the point of a massive upsurge, and the Centre has been at a loss how to address this kind of public discontent.

The Chief Ministers' meeting is likely to be used as a forum for announcing a backtrack of sorts on the ceasefire extension without making it look like a total surrender before the crowds.

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Section  : National
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