Joel Naga
What is the Naga afraid of? Is he afraid of the Frame-Work Agreement? IM? Southern Nagas? The chorus of intelligentsia asking for the contents of the FA is ridiculous. It shows that we have no inkling of our surroundings except to thrive on parochialism. The Naga is thriving on rumour and the resultant fear is accentuating the rumour. The Naga seems to be afraid.
The rumour: Ever since the CCNTHCO (without the dots in-between the letters) declared Solution before Election, we have been accused of blindly accepting Naga Solution without knowing the contents of the Solution! What fart!
The facts: RN Ravi has clearly stated on record that there will be no factional solution, the underlying meaning being clear. In another interview, Ravi stated that there will be only One Naga Solution. Khekiye K. Sema sounded out the supposed contents of the FA in the newspapers in the month of September, 2017. It is hardly 2 pages in total which the Naga is not aware now. Blame it on selective amnesia. When the NSCN-IM signed the cease-fire with the GoI in 1997, a clause was apparently INSERT IGNOREed wherein it stated that the GoI will not negotiate with any other NPGs. Perhaps, this clause prevented the GoI from negotiating with the NSCN-K and the NSCN-U for the better part of the last decade and a half. In any case, because of the outcry of the people in the wake of the FA signed on 3rd August 2015, the GoI had to break “GoI will not negotiate with any other NPGs” clause and started its present negotiation with the NNPGs (representing 6 groups) after due pressure from various quarters.
The 1st picture: any person intelligent to his surroundings can deduct that the FA is an empty box or an empty house. The box is a cubical structure. Now the different structures are “unique history,” “shared sovereignty,” etc. The IM is still negotiating with the GoI on the interior walls, beds, furnitures, and toilets. So when the house is not yet complete- how is possible for anyone or any entity to spell out how the interior of the house (final solution) is likely to appear or force anyone to live in the empty house with no toilet facility?
The 2nd picture: The NNPGs are yet to complete the cubical structure. Yet, the presumption is that the GoI-NNPG talk will not take time to finish the structure and the interior both for the simple reason that whatever has been accomplished between the GoI-IM or in the process of being accomplished is now well-known to the NNPGs (and the layman alike) through simple deductions and analysis, and therefore it’s only a matter of copy-paste. More than the copy-paste aspect, the 17th November Preamble signed between the GoI and the NNPG is a mile-stone document (equivalent doc of Unique history) recognizing the rights of Nagas to self-determine their future (again reported in the local papers).
Again, the fear psychosis of the Naga borders on the ridiculous. When the GoI-IM Cease-fire without territorial limits was signed in 2002, the Meiteis rose up in unison and burnt down the Legislative assembly. 19 Manipuris died and the GoI was forced to withdraw the agreement. The question of Naga territorial integration was thrown out of the Interlocutor’s window due to the persistent and uncompromising stand of the neighbouring states. Recently, 2 people were killed in Dima Hasao on the Naga integration/solution issue. As stated, the GoI was forced to re-strategise and invite the NNPGs for talks in the later part of 2017. These circumstances should be enough indication to the Naga that the ongoing peace-talks with the NSCN-IM cannot be the sole basis for NAGA SOLUTION; that at the end of it all it’s the people who are sovereign. And whereas, this simple fact of the matter continues to miss the Naga allowing many rumours and prejudices to flourish and fester.
The Conclusion: So what is this Naga Solution? Hypothetically, if one were Ravi, the Naga solution is that solution (modified FA and its competencies perhaps) which has been arrived at after protracted push and pull between the negotiating groups – the IM and the NNPGs. In this scenario, the now demonized FA, after due modifications, can be made acceptable to all sections. However, for this situation to materialize, elections has to be deferred inorder to give ample time to the 3 parties, Ravi, IM and the NNPGs to conclude their triangular talks within 2018, and then usher in the Interim Government. That both the NSCN-IM and the NNPGs may be having their own different agenda is another matter, but the Naga people have to decide what is best and acceptable for us, not the other way around. There is also a school of thought which believes that the NNPGs and the NSCN-IM should go their separate ways in which case India taking advantage may not conclude talks with a divided house.
Whatever the permutations and combinations, one thing is for sure; there is an urgency to usher in Solution before 2019 (next LS elections). Perhaps, it is a now or never situation; beyond now, the Naga would be flogging a Naga dead horse. In any case, the Naga Solution has to be approved in whatever platform deemed fit and its contents acceptable to the people. For those who reject the notion of Naga nation I’ve nothing to say; for those who insist on the mythical Sovereignty, God Save Nagas.
So who is afraid of Naga Solution?
(The contents of the article do not reflect the CCNTHCO position; simply the writer’s personal view)
