Hidden hands working for ‘delay’ yet again
Nirendra Dev
KOLKATA/NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 18: There is nothing to cheer about except that they are sitting together and talking to each other.
Will Nagaland still wake up?
The ‘working’ meeting of the Kolkata get-together between NNPG and NSCN(IM) turned into a seminar-type discussion around Truth, Mercy, Justice and Peace.
The “philosophical and meta-physical seminar” was of course anchored by the Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR).
No contentious issues like Ntangki, Constitution and Flag figured in Tuesday’s much hyped deliberations.
“It turned out to be a Kolkata junket for a seminar…and hardly any concrete issue figured. The Government of India should not be taken for granted by any player overground or underground”, a source said.
Another source in the know of things says: “While the meeting between warring sides is to be welcomed…the logic of Kolkata meet for a seminar on Mercy and Justice is not understood by many quarters”.
Are elections in Nagaland still round the corner? And whether the NSCN (IM)-NNPG meeting is also being ‘used’ for the good old delay process?
Sources sought to remain tight-lipped on these questions as of now. However, a refrain is: fresh pressure could be mounted yet again on the Neiphiu Rio-led NDPP-BJP-NPF Government to make things move ‘effectively’.
The Kolkata sojourn was a damp squib business and plates of pork and chicken could have been
organised in Nagaland as well, sources maintained ventilating a sentiment of skepticism.
Moreover, no date has been fixed for next round of meeting between NSCN (IM) and NNPG except an oft-repeated line that “things will progress gradually now on”.
Much hope was built up around Kolkata meet but some people are apparently still taking the tax-payers’ money for granted is now the refrain in certain quarters.
Much hope was generated after the National Prayer Day on Sunday wherein veteran church leader Rev VK Nuh counseled for ‘apologies’ from various quarters including NSCN stalwarts including Thuingeleng Muivah and two late rebel leaders SS Khaplang and Isak Chishi Swu.
The Government of India would review the ‘recent developments’ vis-à-vis Naga peace talks in a day or two, it is expected.
The allegations made by the Senior Citizens’ Association Nagaland (SCAN) that the Ntangki National Park has been completely occupied by the NSCN-IM and that the State Forest Department officials have to seek prior permission from the NSCM (IM) to enter the Park are too serious “to be ignored”.
The Centre may seek an explanation from the Rio Government on the allegations by the SCAN that the “leadership of Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio” had allegedly compromised the interest of the people of Nagaland.
