Calcutta, May 9: The NSCN (I-M) today clarified that it had no objection to former Union home secretary K. Padmanabhaiah being a member of the Centre’s team for the Naga peace talks, but stuck to its demand for appointment of a political leader as chief interlocutor.
V.S. Atem, a former kilonser (minister) in the NSCN (I-M) hierarchy, told The Telegraph while passing through the city that his outfit had always believed that a bureaucrat could not do justice to the chief interlocutor’s role in the peace process. “Padmanabhaiah can continue as a member of Delhi’s negotiating team, though not as the top negotiator.”
Appreciating the former Union home secretary’s efforts to take the peace process forward, Atem said it was now time to take the dialogue to the next level with politicians and not bureaucrats at the helm.
“Padmanabhaiah has done his bit. But being a former bureaucrat, he has his limitations. We feel this is the appropriate time for Delhi to appoint a political leader as its key negotiator so that we can take up crucial political issues and try to speed up the process,” the insurgent leader said.
On whether the NSCN (I-M) would be satisfied if the Centre were to replace Padmanabhaiah with former chief interlocutor Swaraj Kaushal, Atem said his organisation would continue to press for talks with a member of the Cabinet committee on security.
The clamour for Padmanabhaiah’s ouster began after an RSS publication quoted him as saying that the Centre would ensure members of the outfit were disarmed before signing an accord. The attributed quote almost negated the gains from the visit to New Delhi by NSCN (I-M) leaders Th. Muivah and Isak Chisi Swu.
Matters came to a head when Padmanabhaiah reportedly asked them to consider a settlement “within the parameters of the current territorial boundaries of Nagaland” during a meeting in Amsterdam last month.
Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga, regarded as the vital link between the Centre and the NSCN (I-M) leadership, admitted in New Delhi last week that there was a problem. However, he said it was not “insurmountable”, given the “sincerity of both sides”.