Morung Express News
Dimapur | March 21
“Framework Agreement is already signed and the solution has to be on that basis. We cannot take any solution apart from that,” asserted a senior leader of the NSCN (IM). The comment came from Rh Raising, a Member of the Collective Leadership, in a media interview on the sideline of the Naga Republic Day celebration in the Council Headquarters, Hebron, on March 21.
At what was hailed to be a consultative meeting of “Naga Civil Societies,” in Dimapur on March 20, a resolution was adopted for demanding the integration of the Framework Agreement (FA) and the Agreed Position (AP) into one common charter. The conclave was convened by the Nagaland Gaonbura Federation, Peace committee (NGBF PC). It had representatives from the Nagaland Tribes Council, Senior Citizens Association of Nagaland, Forum for Naga Reconciliation, Ex-Parliamentarian Association of Nagaland, Naga Council Dimapur, Konyak Angh Union, Tirap-Changlang and Longding People’s Forum, Rengma-Zeliangrong Joint Council Assam, Naga Hoho and NGBF PC.
While Raising acknowledged the call for unity, he accused the NGBF of being a pro-India entity that has deviated from the principle of the Naga issue. He held that the NGBF is the brainchild of the government of India.
He termed the demand for merging the two agreements as “their opinion, not the opinion of the Naga people.” According to him, their opinion should be to contribute to the Framework Agreement signed between the Government of India and NSCN (IM).
“Our fight with the GoI is issue-based. Our negotiation is also issue-based and the solution has to be issue-based. If it is not issue-based then that will be the repetition of the same mistake,” he said, citing the contested 16-Point Agreement and Shillong Accord.
At the March 20 conclave of the CSOs in Dimapur, allegation of the NSCN (IM) playing delay tactic was raised. Commenting on this, he said that the same question was raised at a meeting with state legislators, the date of which was not specified. He held that if the GoI is prepared to solve the problem on the basis of “Naga principle” then it can be done within a day.
He was asked what should come first—unity or solution. According to him, solution is the rallying point and that there was no question of uniting under the banner of the Indian Constitution.
At the Republic Day programme, the overarching message was a call to Naga unity and a just resolution to the Indo-Naga political issue. The Naga civil society organisations, which were invited to the programme, emphasised the need for all stakeholders to prioritise the Naga people's shared history, identity, and aspirations for a dignified future, while condemning external forces that sow division.
President of the Naga Mothers’ Association (NMA), Vilanuo Angela Yhome, was the guest of honour. She reiterated the urgent need for peace and reconciliation.
The Eastern Nagaland People's Organisation, United Naga Council, Naga People’s Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR), Global Naga Forum and Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) attended. The Naga Hoho and Tirap-Changlang and Longding People’s Forum, though listed in the programme schedule, were absent.
