Oken Jeet Sandham
It was on January 29, 2018, that all political parties in Nagaland came together to a platform made by the Core Committee of Nagaland Tribal Hohos and Civil Society Organizations (CCNTHCO) and culminated the signing of the “Joint Declaration.” This platform was set for them to voice out as one to pressurize the Center to resolve the Naga political issue before the General Elections to the 13th Nagaland Legislative Assembly.
But the whole process and strategy to force the Center to take the issue to an unprecedented height was crumbling within hours when the BJP backed out of the “Joint Declaration.” It surprised the whole State, CCNTHCO and the rest of political parties with whom they signed the “Joint Declaration” by suspending their representative for being a signatory to it. It said they only assigned their representatives to attend the meeting called by CCNTHCO on January 29, 2018, at the Hotel Japfu and not for signing any document.
The Joint Declaration, signed by representatives of eleven political parties in Nagaland, says that the political parties in Nagaland will not issue party tickets to their respective candidates for the ensuing Assembly elections in Nagaland as a form of unprecedented pressure tactics at the Center to resolve the Naga political issue before the State General Elections.
It said, “We the undersigned on behalf of all the political parties and the intending candidates have, in compliance with the wishes of the people, decided not to go ahead with the issuance of party tickets or filing of nominations.”
It declared that they “firmly believe that it is expedient for all the political parties, both national and regional, to come together in the greater interest of the State in solidarity with the call Solution before Election and defer the elections to the 13th Nagaland Legislative Assembly and allow political process to reach its logical conclusion by giving space and time to the negotiating groups to bring out an early solution.”
Minutes after announcing the “Joint Declaration,” CCNTHCO leadership addressed a press conference at the Hotel Japfu. When asked whether they would not be simply inviting constitutional breakdown if all political parties stayed away from electoral frays by not filing their nomination papers and finally leading to a President’s Rule in the State --- that would not be anybody’s liking, besides not good for the State, Theja Therie, Convener of CCNTHCO realized what would be the consequences. But in such a rare move, the Government of India would surely take the Naga issue to an unprecedented scale for finding a solution.
Stating “Enough is enough,” CCNTHCO even asserted that if the “negotiating parties” felt that they could not bring a solution, they should hand over the issue to the people. The Government should have a “mechanism” to bring solution and political parties should take a call, it added.
But with the BJP backing out of the “Joint Declaration,” the floodgate was opened for the rest of political parties to start filing their nomination papers for the General Elections to the 13th Nagaland Legislative Assembly.
It may be mentioned that one week ahead of the “January 29 Joint Declaration,” National BJP Secretary in-charge of North East Ram Madhav at Dimapur said holding elections when due was a Constitutional obligation and unavoidable. Therefore, the slogan in Nagaland should be ‘Election for Solution’ and not ‘Solution before Election,’ he said. As elected members, they could play vital roles in pushing the peace process to reach a settlement. This, he further explained, could happen only when the election was held.
Undoubtedly, the elected representatives could play positive roles during the Naga peace process. They could initiate for a Special Session of the Assembly to discuss on the issue and pass resolutions, inter alia, for urging the Government of India to expedite the process, appealing other Naga political groups to join the peace process.
In fact, during the TR Zeliang regime, the 9th Session of the 12th NLA had earmarked two days – July 23 and 24, 2015 – for discussion on the Naga political issue. They adopted a Five-Point Resolution. One of the resolutions urges the Government of India and NSCN (K) to resume the ceasefire agreement.
The last Session of 12th NLA in December 2017 also adopted a resolution, inter alia, urging the Government of India to “take emergent and extraordinary steps to usher in an honorable and acceptable solution to the Naga political issue well before the Assembly elections” in the State. It even urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) not to announce the Assembly Elections to the 13th Nagaland Legislative Assembly until the “Government of India arrives at an honorable and acceptable solution to the Naga political issue in order to enable all Nagas to enjoy their due democratic and other rights and function as a more empowered electorate during the elections.”
Today, the Naga people, civil societies and other political parties are expecting that there should be a settlement at least before the next Parliamentary Election which is likely to be held in the month of April 2019.
To get the picture clear, the press people asked Madhav on September 16, 2018, at the Heliport, Kohima whether the Government of India would be seriously and honestly working to resolve the issue before the next Parliamentary Election. He said there were stakeholders and other Naga political groups and further added that they would be taking them along while trying to find the solution. “There cannot be any timeframe for resolving the issue,” he said adding the Government of India had been working seriously to find a permanent solution that would be “acceptable to all.”
It is encouraging to see that the States – Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, and Manipur – are ruled by the BJP and even it is the second largest party in the PDA Government in Nagaland. In fact, this is the best moment for the BJP-led NDA Government at the Center to expedite the process for settlement.
Regrettably, the Center is not very clear about their approach to the issue. The Assemblies of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland have been discussing on the accord and the peace process from time to time not because of the signing of the “Framework Agreement” but because of the Center’s failure to disclose the contents of the accord and its lack of transparency.
Interestingly, many Union Ministers including Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Kiren Rijiju and even Madhav have been making statements from time to time that the talks were in an “advanced stage” and it would be resolved soon. Even Prime Minister Modi while speaking at an election rally at Tuensang, Nagaland, announced for an early resolution of the issue.
There is no doubt that the signing of the “Framework Agreement” with NSCN (IM) was historic. But their inability to make the contents of the accord public even after two and half years only makes a huge confusion in the minds of the people.
Surprisingly, the Parliamentary Standing Committee had tabled the Report on the Naga peace process in the Parliament about two months back. One wonders how they could table it when they were saying that consultations with various stakeholders were still going on and even explaining there were other Naga political groups to be taken along. And how could you have consultative meetings when participants did not know what the contents of the accord were. It is even confusing when you urge the Center to expedite the process, instead of asking them to disclose the contents of the accord.
It is good that the 13th Nagaland Legislative Assembly has reconstituted the Joint Legislators’ Forum (JLF) on the Naga political issue. The thing is they have to change the strategy of their roles that they have been playing as “facilitator.” Of course, the previous 15-Year DAN Government had been playing the role of a “facilitator” to the Naga peace process. Now, the PDA Government headed by Neiphiu Rio is only six months old but he (Rio) ruled the previous DAN Government for eleven years. Zeliang ruled almost three and half years while Dr. Shuhozelie briefly ran the affairs for five months.
Now if the present Assembly again says that it is not aware of the contents of the “Framework Agreement” or the “Charter of Demands” or is still kept in the dark of talks between the Center and NSCN (IM) or WC of six NNPGs, then it is terribly wrong somewhere. You play a role more than fifteen years and still claim not knowing the details of the peace process that is going to decide the destiny of the Naga people, is something going nowhere.
Time has come for the Government of Nagaland to play a more proactive role as Dr. Shurhozelie, when he was Chief Minister, stated in the Assembly that they had to play more than what they had been playing as “facilitator” to the Naga peace process. He informed the House that their Government’s “facilitator role” alone would not be sufficient. Their Government should now be more aggressive and it must have hard talks and be more aggressive to solve the Naga political problem, he said.
The time has also come for the Government of India to come sincere to the issue and make a one-size-fits-all settlement.
