Insurgency / Nagaland

NEW DELHI, July 29: The Naga People's Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR) on Friday appealed to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to extend the ceasefire agreement with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (IM) and continue the political dialogue towards finding lasting peace in the state after securing the release of NSCN general secretary T Muivah, reports UNI. "The leadership of Muivah is very essential for continuation of ceasefire and peace talks since he has overwhelming support and credibility" among the Naga people, the NPMHR said in a memorandum to the Prime Minister. It said...

GUWAHATI, July 28: The Church has called for a cessation of hostilities among Naga underground groups. A six-member team of the Nagaland Baptist Churches Council met the "kilo kilonser" (home minister) of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim, Q Tuccu, on Wednesday and impressed upon him the need for a ceasefire among the groups. Killings among Naga brothers and sisters must stop, the NSCN leader was told. The delegation of the Church, an influential institution in Nagaland, was told that the NSCN leadership would discuss their proposal. On 20 July, the team had appealed for unity to the...

KOHIMA, July 28: Three former Prime Ministers have jointly appealed to the Centre to renew the ceasefire agreement with the NSCN(IM) and urged the Thai government to release T Muivah so as to revive the peace process, reports UNI. In a joint release issued recently, Chandra Shekhar, VP Singh and HD Deve Gowda expressed concern at the development "at home and in Bangkok" and said these were not helping to create a conducive environment to maintain the ceasefire meaningfully or continue dialogue to find a lasting solution to the 50-year-old Naga problem. "We are committed to promoting a dialogue...

NEW DELHI, July 26: The Centre and the National Socialist Council of Nagalim will hold talks on extending the ceasefire on 28 and 29 July. The ceasefire ends on 31 July and there are indications that it will be extended by a year, notwithstanding both sides trading charges of violation. Official sources said talks would focus only on the extension of ceasefire and chances of acceding to the NSCN's demand to modify ground rules for ceasefire are remote. The talks are unlikely to focus on the broader details of a political settlement to the Naga problem. In the first positive move in nearly six...

NEW DELHI, July 26: The next round of peace talks between the Government of India and the Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN) will be held in Bangkok on July 28 and 29. The chief negotiator on behalf of the Government of India, K Padmanabhaih will lead a high-level team of Union government officials in the peace talks, while the NSCN delegation will be led by its chairman Isak Swu, Home Ministry sources said here today. Sources said that the extension of the ceasefire agreement, which expires on July 31, will be the main topic in the talks. Sources expressed...

GUWAHATI, July 25: The council of "kilonsers" (ministers) of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim has recommended extension of the ongoing ceasefire with the Centre. The ceasefire expires on 31 July. A Union Home Ministry official told The statesman over the telephone from Delhi this evening that the recommendation was made to the "Tatar Ho Ho" (NSCN parliament) following a meeting of the "kilonsers" at Dimapur yesterday. The government is willing to extend the ceasefire. "If the NSCN agrees, then it can be done," the official said. The government and the NSCN had entered into a ceasefire...

SHILLONG, July 25: In a major breakthrough, the Meghalaya Police arrested a hardcore National Socialist Council of Nagaland (IM) ultra at Jingkieng Nongshiliang here on Monday, reports UNI. The arrested militant, identified as Momba Moa, claimed to be a sergeant major in the NSCN(IM) and the commander-in-charge of operations in Shillong, police said on Tuesday. A .32 Chinese-made pistol with two magazines, 7 live bullets, two Chinese-made hand-grenades and several incriminating documents were seized from his possession. According to police, Moa, who was wanted in connection with several...

BANGKOK, July 25: If India tries to extend the ceasefire in Nagaland unilaterally, it will be only "to deceive the world," Thuingaleng Muivah, general secretary of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) -- NSCN(IM), tells me. "This is treacherous hypocrisy. India first violates the ceasefire agreement, kills our cadre and then there is talk of unilateral extension of the ceasefire. This is ridiculous," he says. We are talking to each other across two iron grills, separated by a one-foot corridor, in Visitors' Room Number Two of the Bangkok Remand Prison. There are nine such...

Situation one: Thuingaleng Muivah, the all-powerful general secretary of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN(IM)) is in jail in Thailand since January. Situation two: The terms of the on-going ceasefire between the NSCN(IM) and the Indian government, first agreed upon in July 1997, come to an end on July 31. And K Padmanabhaiah, the Prime Minister's official negotiator in the Naga peace process, has said that it was time the NSCN(IM) deputed or delegated another person instead of Muivah so that the process could continue. Talks between the government and the NSCN(IM), in fact...

NEW DELHI, July 21: The Centre has not taken any decision yet on extending the ceasefire with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (IM), due to expire on July 31, but will permit the NSCN to open a ceasefire monitoring cell for a period of one year, a Home Ministry spokesman said here today, reports UNI. 'The decision on extending the ceasefire is yet to be taken," the spokesman said. He declined to comment when asked whether allowing opening of ceasefire monitoring cell for one year indicated that it would be extended. The decision was taken at a meeting at Dimapur, between a high-level...