Wednesday’s (July 26) informal meeting between the Consultative Committee for Peace (CCP) and leaders and elders of various Church organizations and bodies comes at a time when the tragic extent to which killings among Nagas has come to symbolize its freedom struggle. Unless there is an immediate stop to such madness, the continuing violence will only awaken further feelings of anger and reprisal. That fratricidal killing is taking place amongst those who took up arms for a common political struggle and the fact that more Nagas are being killed in the last few years at the hands of fellow Nagas questions the very aim of the struggle itself. It is therefore of outmost importance that today’s deliberation dwell on this aspect and try to forge a workable deal that addresses the problem. The important thing is to find ways to resolve the problem and to talk less about it. More than anything else, the CCP-Church meet has to be one of problem solving and finding the best prescription to tackle the present situation.
However, the first step that needs to be taken is to start working on a formal appeal to the national groups that will in a united manner call for a suspension of violence and help put in place a ceasefire among the warring factions. It is time to help restore peaceful coexistence and for this, what is required is an environment which is conducive for discussion to take place, and to give the factions the opportunity to develop contacts, exchange views, explore differences and work together on issues that they agree on. Besides facilitating the suspension of hostilities (ceasefire) it is extremely important that a united front is forged among the civil society groups, churches and political parties in order to effectively draw the national groups into the very process itself. It also means that an initiative for third party mediation has to come sooner than later and the earlier this is done, the better it will be.
