
A State Minister in the Jammu & Kashmir Government recently came out with a bold suggestion seeking a round table conference of people representing all schools of thought to resolve the Kashmir issue. The Minister was naturally irked by the manner in which people were being exploited by politicians on sentimental slogans like self-rule or autonomy. Whether by coincidence or design Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has rightly convened a round table conference in New Delhi on February 24 which in all likelihood will be attended by separatist groups as well as the state’s mainstream political parties. As things stand, the State Government in J&K is aiming to widen the dialogue process on Kashmir and the Prime Minister has been rightly advised on how to go about this exercise. Therefore all credit due to Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad who had obviously sounded the Prime Minister on the need to strengthen the peace process in J-K.
Comparatively speaking the same cannot be said of the State Government in Nagaland which has not been able do anything beyond the usual rhetoric of ‘support to the ongoing peace process and its role as facilitator’. If one is to understand the dynamics of the present ceasefire and peace process, the State Government has hardly any scope to facilitate as the NSCNs are directly dealing with New Delhi. As such the State Government’s role as ‘facilitator’ is highly out of context and needs to be reassessed and directed to something more worthwhile. And it is probably this failure of both the present NPF-led DAN government and the Opposition Congress party which has caused as much damage to the Naga unity bid that remains grounded till date.
If there is a lesson to be learnt, Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio should take urgent steps in addressing the problem in hand without wasting anymore time. The Opposition Congress would likewise be advised to take up the matter with the UPA government of convening a similar initiative of bringing underground groups and the State’s mainstream political parties. The Leader of the Opposition has as much responsibility as the Chief Minister to facilitate the process of bringing the Naga people together. It is on this specific issue that the opposition and government’s professed role as ‘facilitator’ will find more meaning.
However before taking any steps to bring in the underground groups, the political parties must first get their act together. The proposed Joint Legislators’ Forum for Peace is the right vehicle to take that first ride. However, the refusal of the Congress to play ball is quite unfortunate more so as it was the Congress which had mooted the idea for a more representative peace committee. Now that the Chief Minister himself has clarified that the JLFP is a political body (and not a government committee as suspected by the Congress), there is now no reason why the Congress should deny giving peace a chance. The sooner the JLFP is set in motion, the easier it would be to involve the mass based organizations and subsequently the national groups in a broader forum later. Once all shades of opinions are collectively represented, prospects for lasting peace will emerge.
Now that Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio has walked that extra mile by pushing for setting up a smaller joint action committee (as was also suggested in these columns), the Opposition Congress should likewise respond positively in order to create a framework for further peace building exercise.