Setting Feb 26 date with Nagaland : Sense of urgency
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: February 23 2019 -
Understand PM’s position, but what about ours - This was general secretary of the NSCN (IM) Thuingaleng Muivah back on February 17.
Prior to this was his interview in a news channel, wherein the NSCN (IM) supremo spoke candidly on a number of issues which obviously did not go down well with the Kuki National Front.
Interlocutor to the peace talk, RN Ravi scheduled to visit Nagaland on February 26 and brief the stakeholders on the status of the peace talks.
How detailed would the briefing be is anyone’s guess, but the scheduled visit can be seen through the prism of the question raised by Thuingaleng Muivah on February 17.
The sense of urgency given to chalk out the final pact is starkly visible in the open poser raised by the NSCN (IM) leader and this is what will make the scheduled visit of RN Ravi to Nagaland all that more interesting.
That Muivah should raise the open question at this point may be seen as yet another tactic of applying more pressure on New Delhi to ink the final pact as Lok Sabha elections will be held shortly and if there is a change in Government at New Delhi, it could mean setting back the peace process.
No one, least of all the NSCN (IM) and the people of Nagaland would want that and the very public question raised by the NSCN supremo should be seen within this context.
The scheduled visit of RN Ravi to Nagaland and meet the stakeholders should also be seen through this context.
More than 20 years and certainly this is a long period by any stretch of the imagination and credit should be given to the NSCN (IM) and the Government of India for holding out so long.
Just how long the peace process has dragged on can best be understood by looking at the fact that a child born back in 1997, the year the ceasefire came into force, would be 22 years old now.
Th Muivah who is now reported to be above 80 years would not have touched 60 when the ceasefire was signed. And in between Isak Chisi Swu, the I of the IM has passed away.
Significant to remember too that it was after the BJP led NDA Government came to power that a sense of urgency was given to the ongoing peace parleys between the NSCN (IM) and the Government of India.
This may perhaps be best explained by the fact that just one year after the BJP led Government assumed office, the Framework Agreement was signed between New Delhi and the outfit on August 3, 2015.
Ironic it is that while no one knows the details of the Framework Agreement, this pact is today seen as the first tangible step taken towards inking a final deal.
This may precisely be the reason why the NSCN (IM) is so keen on wrapping up the peace process, for if the BJP does not come back to power, then it could mean setting back the peace process by a few years.
No one would want this to happen and the scheduled visit of RN Ravi to Nagaland on February 26 may be seen in the context of respecting the need to speed up the dialogue.
It may also be seen within the context of telling all the stakeholders that the peace process is on track and will not get derailed under any circumstance.
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