The Hindu : On a bumpy road to peace

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Saturday, Feb 01, 2003

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On a bumpy road to peace

By Wasbir Hussain

It would have been prudent on New Delhi's part to have conducted a preliminary exercise to elicit the views of groups in Manipur as well as other Naga outfits before inviting the NSCN(I-M) leaders over for talks.

IT IS to New Delhi's credit that it was able to convince Isak Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah, chairman and general secretary respectively of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah group), to come to India to carry the Naga peace process forward. The NSCN(I-M) leaders, too, began on the right note — visiting Raj Ghat first thing in the morning after their quiet touchdown shortly before midnight on January 8.

Viewed superficially, the NSCN(I-M) leaders coming to New Delhi on Indian travel documents, irrespective of whether the Indian stamp was affixed on their passports or on separate sheets of paper, is in itself a breakthrough of sorts. After all, the Nagas, or a dominant section of them, would still like to argue that they belong to the independent nation and groups such as the NSCN(I-M) were engaged in an armed struggle only to regain their lost sovereignty.

But, as the concluding remarks of Mr. Swu and Mr. Muivah show, the NSCN(I-M) is still maintaining a tough position insofar as its demand for unification of the Naga-inhabited areas in the Northeast is concerned. This was evident from their outright rejection of a Kashmir-type status through greater devolution of powers under Article 371 (A) of the Constitution.

Mr. Muivah, in fact, hardened his position while in New Delhi by saying the Nagas were never a part of India and that they must be left to deal with their destiny themselves. This suggests that New Delhi has a tough task ahead, despite the formal agreement between the two sides to continue the dialogue until a lasting settlement of the Naga problem is reached, and to maintain a peaceful and violence-free environment till then.

Five years after the NSCN(I-M) and the Government put a ceasefire in place in Nagaland, the two sides began by giving an impression that they had reached a stage to clinch a deal. After their 30-minute meeting with the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, on January 9 and a 40-minute session with the Deputy Prime Minister, L. K. Advani, the next day, Mr. Swu and Mr. Muivah praised the Indian leaders for their sincerity and understanding of the complex Naga issue.

Things looked to be on the right track. Soon, however, the NSCN(I-M) leaders made one thing clear: they were not going to compromise on their demand for integration of the Naga-inhabited areas in the Northeast.

This was to trigger a fresh uprising in Manipur, and protests, as yet feeble, in neighbouring Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. The majority Meiteis in Manipur were once again gripped by fears that New Delhi could slash off the Naga-inhabited areas in their State and merge them with Nagaland as part of a possible deal with the NSCN(I-M). At the call of the United Committee Manipur (UCM) — an apex group of political, social and student organisations — thousands of Meiteis carrying flaming bamboo torches came on to the streets in Imphal and other parts of the Manipur Valley on January 16, shouting slogans that they would launch an independence movement if the Government decided to dismember their State.

The scene was reminiscent of the June 2001 uprising in Manipur when 18 protesters were killed in police firing. On that occasion, the mob had set fire to the State Legislative Assembly and several other Government offices after New Delhi decided to extend the ceasefire with the NSCN(I-M) and the Government to areas outside Nagaland. Later, New Delhi bowed to the pressure from the Manipuris, who feared that extension of the truce outside Nagaland could be the first step before parts of their territory was ceded to the Nagas, and restricted the ceasefire to Nagaland.

The NSCN(I-M) leaders' remarks have united the otherwise warring political parties in Manipur, with even the Meitei insurgent groups throwing their weight behind the opposition to the State's division. They, after all, have taken Mr. Muivah's comments very seriously. He had said: "I lived in Ukhrul (a Naga-dominated district town in Manipur). I was born there; my forefathers were born and lived there. This land belongs to us. We are not living in the land of Meiteis." The Manipur Chief Minister, Ibobi Singh, was made to head an all-party panel, constituted overnight, to pressure New Delhi not to take any hasty steps while forging a deal with the Naga rebels.

All the while, New Delhi did not do anything to defuse the crisis. In the prevailing situation, it could have done a lot to clear the air. But, it chose to keep mum. Disastrous consequences are likely to follow. On January 21, Mr. Ibobi Singh said after meeting Mr. Vajpayee that the latter had assured the all-party delegation that Manipur's territorial integrity would not be affected by any solution to the Naga conflict. Even on this occasion, there was no confirmation from the Prime Minister's Office or anyone in the Central Government on whether Mr. Vajpayee had actually given such an assurance. Later, after their second meeting with the Prime Minister in less than a fortnight, the NSCN(I-M) leaders sought to give the impression that New Delhi had denied Mr. Vajpayee giving any such assurance to Mr. Ibobi Singh.

Now, the Meitei uprising is only one part of the revolt that is brewing. Voices of dissent are emerging from among the Nagas themselves. The Naga National Council (NNC) — the premier Naga nationalist group that took shape under the legendary Angami Zapu Phizo before India attained Independence from the British — has opposed the ongoing peace talks. "The NSCN(I-M) is only a faction and thus does not constitute a properly mandated organisation which represents the views of the whole Naga populace," the NNC president, I. Panger Walling, and general secretary, Vizosielhou Nagi, said in a statement. According to the NNC, the Nagas had given it the necessary mandate on their future through a plebiscite way back in 1951 and that it was ready for peace talks with the Government if invited. This was also the argument put forward by the NSCN faction headed by S. S. Khaplang.

New Delhi would certainly not like to end a longstanding rebellion and open up newer fronts at the same time. It would have been prudent on New Delhi's part to have conducted a preliminary exercise to elicit the views of groups in Manipur as well as other Naga outfits before inviting the NSCN(I-M) leaders over for talks. To accomplish the task of holding peace talks with all the Naga rebel factions is indeed difficult, and could pose the biggest challenge in the days to come to both the Government of India as well as the Church and other NGOs engaged in brokering peace. All said and done, the NSCN(I-M) leaders deserve praise for undertaking a rather bold journey to New Delhi to carry forward the peace talks. One may ask groups such as the NNC why they had been silent for so long.

(The writer is an Associate Fellow, Institute for Conflict Management, New Delhi.)

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