Efforts on to bring other UG groups to the table: Pillai

PURUM, January 20: The Union home ministry will be convening a meeting of the four chief ministers of Nagaland, Manipur, Assam and Meghalaya soon to thrash out the question of extending the ceasefire between the government of India and the NSCN(IM) into all Naga inhabited areas falling within their states. This was stated by the Union joint secretary home, in charge of the Northeast, GK Pillai during a meeting with media persons at Purum in the Senapati district on January 18. However, Pillai either out of deliberate omission or unintended slip did not mention the Arunachal Pradesh chief minister. Referring to the recently released ground rules between the government of India and the NSCN(IM), Pillai said it has been upgraded and rectified in an effort to eliminate all grey areas that have fallen a big hindrance to the progress of the peace process. He said these lapses had been pointed out by the chief ministers of the NE states on earlier occasion and all of them agree that these have been stumbling blocks of the peace process. Pillai said confirming of the ceasefire between just the security forces and the NSCN(IM) while factional and fratricidal killings went on unhindered had been a major impediment in the progress of the peace talk. Explaining the logic behind the government of India's new stand allowing the ceasefire to extend beyond Nagaland, the joint secretary home said the NE chief ministers must realise that the extension of the ceasefire into their boundaries is an extension of peace and not violence. "The ceasefire must not have any territorial limitations and the government of India strongly believes in extending the ceasefire outside of Nagaland," he explained. He also appealed for the active participation and collective effort of the intellectuals, social activists, church leaders, politicians, student leaders and above all the Naga tribes, to make the peace process initiative a grand success. Responding to a query on the unification of Naga inhabited areas of Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, and Arunachal Pradesh, GK Pillai said the government of India is firm against any such unification as it is aware of the repercussion potential and impediment to the peace process in the NE such a move is likely to cause. On whether the question of self determination of the Nagaland is to be placed top on the agenda of the peace talks as demanded by the NSCN(IM), Pillai declined to comment saying it is not the right time to speak on the political aspect of the ceasefire. "Active consideration is under progress." He said. He however said that a larger section of the Naga population are interested in remaining with the Indian Union, and the government will at all cost protect their interest. Pillai said the government of India is also making all efforts to bring all the separatist groups in the region to the negotiating table, and already it has made a breakthrough with the Liberation Tigers Force of Bodoland. As regards the feelers sent out by the NSCN (K) for peace parleys with the Government of India, he said the ground rules and modalities for the same are being worked out. On the Union ministry's charges of politician-UG nexus, Pillai said MHA is awaiting the investigation report to be submitted on matter by the Manipur Government on January 31.