The Global Naga Forum (GNF) expresses deep gratitude to the 21 Members of Parliament (MPs) who recently submitted a Memorandum to Hon’ble Home Minister Amit Shah, urging the Government of India to expedite the Indo-Naga peace process. The MPs’ act of rare political courage and empathy in the face of persistent apathy on the part of the Indian government is a strong affirmation of democratic values that are alive and well in some quarters of this country. The Naga people have long refrained from seeking concerted external backing in our struggle for self-determination on the conviction that Nagas don’t need other people’s permission to live and govern ourselves in our homeland. We hope the MPs’ intervention will give the long neglected negotiation for a peaceful settlement the vital push it needs among politicians and intelligentsia across India. We call for continued advocacy until a meaningful and lasting resolution is achieved. Such a settlement would signal a turning point not only in the Naga people’s future but for India’s standing in the world through commitment to democratic integrity and justice without exceptions.
The Global Naga Forum does not believe it is anti-India to point out the truth of the current Indian Government’s wilful neglect of the Indo-Naga peace negotiation and its double dealings in the process. These are common knowledge to both insiders and close observers alike of the negotiations, despite the government’s efforts to distort the situation and shift the blame squarely on the Naga side, to avoid shouldering the difficult political and moral responsibility at hand – resolving the longstanding Indo-Naga political problem — which, it is important to remind ourselves, started with the birth of the Indian Republic in 1947.
Yet, even as recently as in the last ten years, after signing the Framework Agreement (FA) with the NSCN (IM) in 2015, which was hailed by the then and current Prime Minister as a singular breakthrough in the seven-decades old political conflict, his government seems to have had a buyer’s remorse. Two years after the Framework Agreement was signed, the Interlocutor, RN Ravi, entered into a different agreement, Agreed Position (AP), with another Naga groups, which went counter to the original Framework Agreement. So a decade into the much-hyped Framework Agreement, the negotiations have stalled. It is at a standstill because the Modi government has apparently washed its hands off the FA in favour of the AP, insisting that there will be only “one Naga solution,” and blames the lack of progress in the peace process entirely on Naga disunity and intransigence instead of the two conflicting documents it signed (FA and AP) with different Naga groups.In short, the repetitive history of the Indian government’s bad faith double dealings with the Naga people’s struggle for political self-determination, from the Nine-Point Agreement (1947) to Framework Agreement (2015),underscores the harsh Naga reality that India has denied us justice by indefinitely delaying and postponing justice.
It is in this context that we once again commend the 21 MPs from both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, whose collective effort on February 3, 2025, called on the Government of India to address the Naga peace process in Parliament. Their support for the Framework Agreement highlights the growing recognition of the Naga people’s aspirations and the urgent need for a political solution.
Additionally, the Memorandum underscores the importance of elevating the status of the Naga Interlocutor to a Union Ministerial level, as proposed in Resolution No. 3 on 12th September 2024 by the Nagaland Government, Tribe Hohos, and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs). This step is crucial for ensuring decisive leadership in negotiations, yet there remains uncertainty regarding the state government’s full commitment to this resolution. We urge the Nagaland Government to clarify its efforts and take proactive steps towards its implementation.
The Government of India now holds the key, as it always has. It has the responsibility to reciprocate this collective demand and demonstrate the political will to resolve the Naga issue. The continued delay in translating the Framework Agreement into a tangible solution only prolongs the uncertainty, which must be addressed with urgency. We call on all authorities to act with sincerity and commitment toward fulfilling the Naga people’s resilient aspirations.
Finally, we demand a transparent, internationally monitored peace process that guarantees a just and honourable resolution. The patience of the Naga people has been tested beyond reason – seventy-seven years and running, since India’s independence from colonial rule in 1947.
Will India act in good faith as a mature, responsible democracy? Or will it continue its legacy of broken promises to the Nagas who live separated in four Indian states and are being fenced in and out of India even as we write to plead for a peaceful settlement? History will remember where India and every stake holder stood on the democratic and human rights question of Naga self-determination.
Media Cell
Global Naga Forum
Nagaland Post Launch on 30 Dec 1990 is the first and fore-most english daily newspaper of Nagaland.
© 2021 Nagaland Post. All Rights Reserved.