Guwahati:
At a time when the Naga peace talks remain centered around the demand for a separate flag and constitution, the biggest armed political group involved in negotiations, the NSCN(IM), has claimed that any “separate talks” on these matters is “not in sync” with the 2015 Framework Agreement it signed with the Centre.
A National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah), or NSCN (IM), statement released Friday night hit out at the Centre on the matter saying “the Government of India is sending a wrong signal”.
“By having separate talk on flag and constitution, the Government of India is sending a wrong signal that is not in sync with the Framework Agreement. It should not undo its commitment and backtrack from the Framework Agreement,” the statement said.
This follows Naga leaders, including Chief minister Neiphiu Rio, reportedly claiming last week that the Central government was having exhaustive discussions with constitutional and legal experts to find ways to let them use a separate flag. Referring to a separate “Yehzabo” or constitution, Mr Rio had said that a committee would be set up post-settlement to work out the details, according to media reports.
These views followed a meeting earlier this month that Mr Rio and other Naga leaders had with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi.
“The Framework Agreement is not far off for any layman to understand, that the identity of one is not dismissed, lost or demeaned in any manner that defines peaceful coexistence of two entities. We have stoutly defended our political identity,” the NSCN(IM) release said.
The Framework Agreement, it said, speaks of the Nagas’ unique history and sovereign independent identity – recognised by the Centre on July 11, 2002. There is “no scope provided to have separate talks on Naga flag and constitution”, the release said.
Prior or post-declaration of independence on August 14, 1947, the Nagas had never taken a single step to join the Union of India – either by conquest or consent, it said.
