Kohima, Feb. 25: The army will consider a proposal by the NSCN (I-M) seeking a location shift for their headquarters from Punglwa in Peren district to someplace in Nagaland?s Intangki forest. During a recent meeting of the ceasefire monitoring group, the NSCN (I-M) proposed the change of location.
?There have been proposals and we shall examine them. We do not have a problem if they have it at the present location or elsewhere as far as the ceasefire ground rules are adhered to,? Lt Gen. Daljeet Singh, general officer commanding of 3 Corps, told mediapersons here yesterday.
The main reason for the decision to change the location is constant army movement in Punglwa, also the site for a Sainik School coming up in the state.
The group had shifted its general headquarters from Niuland near Dimapur to Punglwa during the ceasefire. It was recently christened Hebron after the Biblical name. In 1999, the outfit had changed its location from Intangki forest to Niuland. Of late, tension has also been simmering between the NSCN (I-M) and the Assam Rifles over construction of roads in the Peren area.
The general said there have been violations of ceasefire ground rules by the outfit in the past. Reports have been submitted in this connection to the ceasefire group?s chairman, Lt Gen. (retd) Kulkarni, he said.
On the other hand, he asserted that Nagaland was prospering as a result of peace and setting an example for other states. Manipuri insurgent groups holed up in Myanmar would ?fall in place? on seeing peace in Nagaland, he added.
Recruitment of Manipuri youths into armed rebel groups has come down, he claimed. ?Instead of volunteers, now there is forced recruitment. This is a big step forward,? Singh said, adding, ?Look at the number of desertions?, to buttress his point.
On recent reports of an offensive by the Myanmar army against insurgent groups of the Northeast, Singh said the Indian army had no information. He declined to say if there would be any proactive operation to flush out rebels from Myanmar.
?We are capable of handling the situation if it arises,? he said, dodging a question. The GOC, however, denied that Ulfa and NDFB militants had used routes in Nagaland to reach the headquarters of the NSCN (Khaplang) in Myanmar.