Indeed the year 2012 could possibly see the long drawn Indo-Naga issue come to some form of settlement. All indications point to such a scenario. In fact for quite some time now those in the know of things (government of India officials) have been mentioning possible timeframe within which the Naga political settlement could become a reality. In particular former Union Home Secretary G.K Pillai has pointed to such a scenario more than once. In his latest comment, Pillai was hopeful that by the end of 2012 “the contour of a settlement would emerge”. And this actually makes sense i.e. to put a time frame on the Naga talks and arriving at a political settlement. Firstly, the tenure of the present Nagaland government headed by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio will come to an end early 2013 (sometime in February/March). And so if Naga people were given a choice of setting a time frame it will be wise to look at 2012 and certainly not beyond because the hustle and bustle of electoral politics can lead to more problems and conflict when we should be looking to resolve the decades long Naga imbroglio. Secondly, the worry of prolonging a political settlement beyond 2012 is the uncertainty that is bound to come up as the present Congress led UPA government is also nearing the end of its tenure. Going by past experience the government of India will be caught in preparation for General Election and the Naga peace process will in all probability be put in the backburner—to be taken up once a new government comes to power. While no doubt successive governments in Delhi have always maintained continuity as far as the peace process goes, yet any further delay will only add to the difficulties of the negotiating parties. For both Delhi and the Nagas it will be good to stick to the public pronouncement made by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to find a solution within the timeframe of the present UPA government. And that means looking at 2012.
Coming to the roadmap of a political settlement on the Naga question, things are looking much clear now on how the process is going to be managed. The negotiating parties appear to be pragmatic. As far as the acceptance of a settlement goes, the Government of India is obviously aware of “failed agreements that had kept the Indo-Naga conflict going for several decades”. As Mr Pillai mentioned “this time round it would be ensured that the entire Naga society was made party to whatever deal was struck”. “All have to endorse the agreement, from the gaon burhas (village headmen) to civil society groups... none should be able to turn around and say after some years that they were kept in the dark and hence would not accept the agreement”. Offcourse one area that still needs effort of all concerned is on how to bring on board the NSCN Khaplang into the current discourse. According to reports the NSCN (I-M) will hold consultations with other factions and civil society groups from February 22 before sitting for the next round of talks with the Centre. Also a Naga Reconciliation meeting has been planned for February 29, 2012. All this is important and welcome developments from the context of the Naga people and the settlement being worked out. The time from here on will be extremely crucial. It will be important for the Nagas to remain open to creative solutions; reciprocal in our approach; rational in our thinking process and most importantly to work on a common political platform (of all national groups) in order to take the Indo-Naga political process to its logical conclusion. The Naga civil society groups and the political parties (overground politicians) will have to unite their efforts to help search for this common ground. But most importantly, for any settlement to take place, let the voice of the Naga people be heard.
