Insurgency / Nagaland

New Delhi, January 11: Isak Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah today assured Defence Minister George Fernandes that NSCN (I-M) will not target the Indian army any more. The unscheduled meeting with Fernandes turned out to be more significant than either side had expected as the minister too reciprocated in kind, saying that their cadres would not be ‘‘victimised unnecessarily.’’ The insurgent leaders had sought an appointment with Fernandes, known to be a Northeast sympathiser, only late last evening. He obliged and agreed to meet them despite the Governor’s meeting today.

Both the leaders...

Imphal, January 10: Opposition DPA constituent partner Manipur Peoples' Party said it will take up arms, if necessary, if Government of India concedes to the demand of NSCN (IM) to amalgamate all Naga inhabited areas under one administrative umbrella. Addressing news persons at the MPP office today, president of the party and firebrand leader O Joy said the present peace talks between Govt of India and the NSCN (IM) to solve the Naga issue is based on four points put forward by the underground outfit. While pursuing a solution to the vexed issue, drastic measures should not be taken that could...

NEW DELHI, Jan 10 – The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is likely to eventually take-over the Naga peace talks from the Government of India’s chief interlocutor, K Padmanabhiah even as the Central Government prepares the ground for holding talks on substantive issues. The day-one of the NSCN (IM) leaders began with a visit to Raj Ghat where they laid wreath on the Samadhi of the Father of the Nation. Accompanying them were about 100-odd other delegates mostly representatives of the various students bodies, NGOs, cultural organizations among others.

Like any visiting head of the State, the NSCN...

Kohima, Jan. 10: When the top guns of the NSCN (I-M) — Thuingaleng Muivah and Isak Chisi Swu — paid homage to the memorial of the apostle of non-violence at Rajghat, it hardly surprised anyone in Nagaland. The Mahatma has been a household name here since 1946 and is considered a “friend of the Nagas”. In contrast to the “lukewarm response” to the visit of the two leaders a day earlier, when TV channels beamed pictures of the two NSCN (I-M) leaders at Rajghat yesterday, Naga old-timers said “the gesture of the collective leadership was a reflection of the esteem in which the Nagas held Gandhi”...

New Delhi, Jan. 10: The first meeting between deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani and the NSCN (I-M) brass was warm and cordial, with the visitors again complimenting the sincerity of the Centre’s efforts to understand and resolve the Naga problem. “We were warmly welcomed by the deputy Prime Minister,” NSCN (I-M) chairman Isak Chisi Swu said after calling on Advani in North Blo ck along with secretary-general Thuingaleng Muivah.

Although both sides were tight-lipped on the issues discussed, the NSCN (I-M) leaders clearly indicated the broad framework on which the substantive talks would revolve...

New Delhi, January 10: Striking a more realistic note during their talks with Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani today, Naga insurgent group NSCN (I-M) leaders Isak Chisi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah made it clear that they had not given up on their main demands.

Though none of the prickly issues were taken up during the hour-long ‘‘warm’’ meeting, the two leaders expressed concern about the forthcoming elections in Nagaland, saying that they may not be free and fair, and that they would not be participating in them.

Advani, however, assured them, giving them the example of Jammu and Kashmir....

NEW DELHI JAN. 9. The meeting of the leaders of the Naga secessionist movement, Isak Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah, and the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, ended on a positive note with the NSCN (I-M) chairman, Mr. Swu, describing the approach of both sides as "mature" and "realistic". The Prime Minister and the leadership of India, he said were "very sincere" in finding a solution to the Naga problem.

Speaking to the media outside the Prime Minister's residence after the 40 minute-long meeting, Mr. Swu declined to discuss the details of the talks, which he described as "cordial and...

Imphal, January 09: The Khaplang faction of the NSCN has categorically stated that the no real ‘peace’ or ‘solution’ would be brought by the talk between the Government of India and the NSCN (IM) adding that the IM group is not the sole representative of the Naga people. In a statement, the NSCN (K) today said that the real cause of the Naga people is sovereignty and anything short of it would not be acceptable to the Nagas. NSCN (K) has been fighting for the ‘real cause’ and would continue to fight for it regardless of any ‘agreement,’ reached between the IM group and the Centre. The present...

The suspense: Where are the Naga leaders staying? Several stories specially are doing the rounds with a prying media brigade haunting all possible leads. While some reports indicated that they were being hosted in a five star hotel others suggested guesthouses of para-military forces that are located in different parts of Delhi and farm houses located on the outskirts of the city. However, it appears that the Naga leaders have been settled in secret IB safe house, which is a Type-Six Government quarter located in a post government colony in South Delhi.

Hosting the NSCN (I-M) leaders in a...

Kohima, Jan. 9: Unlike local newspaper banner headlines that screamed “Tears, joy, cheers welcome NSCN (I-M) leaders” — reflecting the “general mood” as well as the intense activity in the nation’s capital — the mood in the state capital was as sombre as the weather. The streets of Kohima showed neither excitement nor anticipation on a day that has been described variously as “crucial” or “historic” by prominent leaders and citizens in the run-up to the talks between the Centre and the NSCN (I-M) today in New Delhi.

For most, it was just another day. “Our quotidian life has not been...