Kohima, May 20: One of the biggest challenges before Prime Minister-designate Manmohan Singh is only weeks away. The NSCN (I-M) has announced that its top leaders, Isak Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah, will visit Delhi next month to take up the contentious demand for integration of all contiguous Naga-inhabited areas with the next government at the Centre.
The militant group’s deputy kilonser (minister) of information and publicity, Kraibo Chawang, said the visit was scheduled before the Congress-led alliance was invited by the President to form the government. He said the NSCN (I-M) was not prejudiced against the Congress and would approach the peace talks with the same positive mindset as before.
“We are not against the Congress. Our leaders had met Sonia Gandhi even during their last visit,” Chawang said.
Swu, who is the chairman of the NSCN (I-M), and Muivah, the group’s general secretary, had met all the top leaders of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance when they last visited New Delhi in January 2003.
Chawang said the NSCN (I-M) was not worried about the change of guard in Delhi, given the fact that it was former Congress Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao who had kicked off the peace process by signing a ceasefire agreement with the group.
Swu and Muivah, who are together referred to as the NSCN (I-M)’s “collective leadership”, are expected to call on the Prime Minister and his cabinet colleagues during their second visit to the capital.
On whether his organisation would ask for chief interlocutor K. Padmanabhaiah to be replaced, Chawang said his role in the peace process had been “accepted” and there would be no other dispute on this topic.
“The differences that had cropped up at one point of time on Padmanabhaiah’s continuance have been resolved. We had asked for a senior political leader, but the dispute was settled. So, we do not see any problem with him continuing as the government’s interlocutor.”
In June last year, both sides decided to meet once a month. Several rounds of talks have since been held in Bangkok and Amsterdam with Padmanabhaiah representing Delhi. There has, however, been no progress on the NSCN (I-M)’s demand for integration of all Naga-inhabited areas.
The NSCN (I-M) maintains that the peace process cannot advance without a positive decision on the subject of integration. Manipur’s uncompromising stand — the state has witnessed violent protests whenever Delhi has shown signs of buckling under pressure — is the militant group’s main source of worry.
Though the NSCN (I-M)’s statements indicate it will treat the Congress-led government just as it did the outgoing Atal Bihari Vajpayee ministry, its attitude towards former Nagaland chief minister and PCC chief S.C. Jamir remains much the same.
Chawang said Jamir had “fooled the people for long but has now realised how important the peace process is”. He said the NSCN (I-M) was “prepared” to deal with Jamir if he became a hurdle. “He will come on our terms.”
Jamir’s refrain is that the peace talks have neither been transparent nor yielded tangible results.