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THE NATION: NAGA CEASE-FIRE
New Pact In The Offing
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"I
want to contribute to peace in the Northeast."
Purno A. Sangma,
Chief negotiator designate
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Delhi, however,
sees no reason to panic over the NSCN's rebuttal contradicting Advani.
"The cease-fire is in force in Nagaland until July 31 next year,"
says Home Ministry spokesman P.D. Shenoy. Officials feel the NSCN has
issued statements only to keep up the morale of its cadre. "The NSCN
statement is not incorrect. We have not formalised any agreement,"
says Padmanabhaiah, who is meeting the Naga leaders over the week-end
for formalising a new pact.
The Government's confidence stems from the fact
that people of Nagaland want peace. If the NSCN returns to violence it
will not enjoy any public support. The powerful Nagaland Baptist Church
Council and the Naga Hoho, the apex council of Naga tribes, have said
they are committed to peace. "We are not worried about the outcome
of the talks. We will never break the dialogue. We will continue to talk
as long as the NSCN is willing" says an official. In fact the Government
is now keen to widen the ambit of its dialogue in the Northeast. It wants
to talk to all the insurgent groups. It believes such a dialogue would
ensure that states such as Manipur do not over-react to cease-fire agreements
that Delhi might enter into with specific militant groups.
Learning from its Manipur experience, the Government
has already begun extensively consulting the chief ministers of the region.
Officials say Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee himself spoke to these
leaders on the modalities of negotiating with the insurgent groups. Most
of them wanted Padmanabhaiah to be replaced by former Lok Sabha Speaker
Purno A. Sangma. The former Meghalaya chief minister, who is now a member
of the Constitution Review Committee, looks forward to his new assignment.
"I would like to make some contribution to establishing peace in
the Northeast," he says.
Nagaland Chief Minister S.C. Jamir, however,
opposed Sangma's entry and demanded that the interlocutor should be from
mainland India. To mollify Jamir, the Government has decided to set up
a three-member panel with Sangma and two others. "Sangma is welcome.
We will cooperate with him," says a now pleased Jamir who is on the
proposed panel.
The optimism of the Government in initiating
peace in the Northeast is not shared by those who follow insurgency in
the region. They feel the Nagas can't be taken for granted. Delhi cannot
continue to treat the NSCN(I-M) in a cavalier manner. Peace with this
group is imperative because this is the strongest militant outfit in south-east
Asia after the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. With a cadre strength
of 4,000 and 3,500 modern weapons the NSCN has been running mercenary
training camps for other insurgent groups in the region. Until the cease-fire,
they provided training to the United Liberation Front of Asom, Paite National
Convention, Hmar People's Convention and the All Tripura Tiger Force,
among others, for a fee of Rs 1 lakh per head. Which is why if the dialogue
collapses, the Northeast may once again come in the grip of another spell
of violence. And this spell might last for decades.
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