Politics / Nagaland

Imphal, January 15: Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh while assuring that the violence of June 18, 2001 will not recur this time, has warned that the territorial integrity of Manipur should not be compromised by the Centre to appease the Naga rebel group, NSCN (I-M). In an exclusive interview with The Sangai Express, the Chief Minister said despite the assurances given by various Central leaders to preserve the territorial integrity of Manipur, if the ongoing Centre-NSCN (I-M) peace talks take up any move that might alter the existing territorial boundary of the State, Government of India should be...

NEW DELHI, Jan 15 — The NSCN (I-M) may not be taking part in the ensuing Nagaland Assembly polls but the battle-line between the Naga underground leadership and Chief Minister of the state, SC Jamir were drawn, with the I-M leadership accusing the Congress leaders of sabotaging the peace process in the past. The animosity between the I-M leaders and Sri Jamir came out in the open when during an interaction with the newsmen the two leaders said that they had six meetings with then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi six times before Jamir sabotaged it. She later sent her emissaries for the seventh...

NEW DELHI, Jan 15 – The Naga peace talks may have a new interlocutor, with the Central Government toying with the proposal of appointing a political leader to head the negotiations. While the Central Government is playing its cards close to its chest, the capital was agog with reports that Minister in-charge the Department for Development of the North Eastern Region (DONER), Arun Shourie name was finalised. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which is handling the negotiations is yet to make any formal announcement to the effect.

The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) which met last...

Kohima, Jan. 15: After the Khaplang faction of the NSCN, another militant outfit of the state — the Naga National Council (NNC) — has strongly opposed the ongoing peace talks in New Delhi between the Centre and the NSCN (I-M). The Walling and Nagi faction of the NNC, in a statement issued by its president I. Panger Walling and general secretary Vizosielhou Nagi, said, “The NSCN (I-M) is only a faction and does not constitute a properly mandated organisation representing the views of the Naga people as a whole.”

The NNC said the Nagas would not except a piecemeal solution to the 55-year-old...

Kohima, Jan. 15: Barely a week after its formation, differences have started cropping up in the state’s anti-Congress front — the Nagaland Democratic Alliance. The bone of contention is the sharing of seats among coalition partners with the BJP seeking “priority” over Nagaland People’s Front (NPF) which is the offshoot of the oldest Opposition party in the state, the United Democratic Front (UDF). According to the NPF, seats should be shared on the basis of “support base”.

“Since we have a strong presence in all the 60 Assembly constituencies in the state, unlike the BJP which is yet to open...

Imphal, January 14: NSCN(K) supremo SS Khaplang is all set to come to India by November this year for a political dialogue with the government of India according to a well placed source of the outfit. The source said Khaplang presently in Myanmar had indicated his willingness to come to India for negotiations with the government of India latest by the end of this year and added many of the top ranking leaders of the faction are also coming with him. Khaplang would also find a way to come to term with the NNC/FGN during his visit to India in the later part of the year. Khaplang, a Hemi Naga and...

GUWAHATI, Jan 13 — The State Government will not compromise on the territorial integrity of the State in view of the demand for a greater Nagaland by the NSCN(I-M). Addressing the inaugural function of the 6th Brahmaputra Beach Festival here this afternoon, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi in presence of the Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani said, “we will oppose integration of all Naga inhabitated areas as demanded by the NSCN(I-M) leaders as it will create more problem for the State. We will not compromise on our territorial integrity.” He, however, hailed the peace process with the NSCN(I-M)...

NEW DELHI JAN. 12. Politics in the north-east is not what it is in the rest of the country. Parties on the same side of the political fence elsewhere find themselves in opposite camps here and as for the regional parties, it is anybody's guess which way they will go.

The scene in the run-up to the next month Assembly elections in Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland presents an interesting picture.

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which runs two coalition Governments with the Congress in Maharashtra and Meghalaya, will be its main rival in Meghalaya this time. And in Nagaland, the NCP is in...

KOHIMA, Jan 12 — A day after the Election Commission set the tone of electioneering in Nagaland, Nagaland People’s Front (NPF) on Sunday announced that the regional party in principle had agreed to have an alliance with BJP, Samata Party and other like-minded national parties for the February 26 Assembly elections in the state, reports PTI.

Former Congress MP, Imchalemba, who recently joined the rechristened NPF, said the decision to have the poll alliance was taken at a meeting at the residence of Samata Party president and Defence Minister George Fernandes recently in New Delhi, which was...

Guwahati/Kohima, Jan. 12: Former Nagaland chief minister and BJP national executive member Hokishe Sema will lead a BJP-led Opposition front — the Nagaland Democratic Alliance — in the Assembly elections starting February 26, amid speculation that the anti-Congress combine has the tacit support of the NSCN (I-M).

A decision to this effect was taken after parleys between the Nagaland People’s Front and Nagaland BJP leaders with NDA convenor George Fernandes and BJP national president Venkaiah Naidu in New Delhi.

Speaking to The Telegraph from New Delhi, Hokishe Sema said the BJP high command...