Politics / Nagaland

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 23: The Assam Government has moved the Supreme Court against "occupation" of its forest and revenue lands by Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. Over the years, a series of meetings between the three north-eastern neighbours have failed to resolve the decade-old boundary dispute. In two separate suits, taken up by the Court earlier this week, the Assam Government sought the Court's intervention to restore its right to administer its "own" areas, as envisaged in the first schedule of the Constitution. Considering the nature of the tangle, a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice...

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...

KOHIMA, July 20: Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) has urged the Centre and Naga underground factions to extend the tenure of ongoing ceasefire in the state and declare unilateral truce among different factions to bring about sustainable peace in Nagaland, reports PTI. NPCC in its executive committee meeting here on Tuesday reviewed the present political situation in the state and resolved that to usher in real and sustainable peace, all underground factions should declare ceasefire among themselves. Favouring extension of ceasefire between the Centre and all the underground groups...

GUWAHATI, July 20: After a gap of six months, a meeting of Ceasefire Monitoring Group (CFMG) was held on Tuesday at Dimapur in Nagaland in a heated atmosphere marked by trading of charges and counter-charges. The meeting was attended only by representatives of the Centre, including the Union Home Ministry and the Army, and the Isak- Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN). The state government of Nagaland had withdrawn from the CFMG after the NSCN(IM) ambushed Chief Minister SC Jamir's convoy in November last year. The main purpose of the meeting, chaired by PD...

KOHIMA, July 19: To break the stalemate over the ceasefire monitoring mechanism, the much awaited meeting of the Ceasefire Monitoring Group (CFMG) with the Centre and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (IM) was held in a cordial atmosphere in Dimapur yesterday, reports UNI. The meeting has decided to open a ceasefire monitoring cell of the NSCN(IM) near Dimapur, official sources said today. CFMG chairman PD Shenoy, representatives of the Nagaland government, officials of the security forces and the leaders of the NSCN(IM) took part in the meeting which was described as vital for peace...

KOHIMA, July 16: Prominent organisations in Nagaland have urged both Centre and NSCN(IM) to extend the ongoing ceasefire, which expires on July 31, further while calling for steps to expedite the political talks to hammer out a solution to the problem, reports PTI. The Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC), in a statement, appealed to the Centre and NSCN(IM) to extend the present tenure of ceasefire and called for maintenance of terms and conditions of truce by both sides. regarding the announcement by NSCN(K) that it wanted to have a formal ceasefire with the Union government, NBCC urged to...

KOHIMA, August 28: Angry over lack of food, 38 undertrials, mostly drug addicts and people charged with petty crimes, escaped from the high security Mokokchung jail in Nagaland on Thursday night, police said yesterday. Ten of the fugitives, however, were immediately recaptured. The home secretary (police), CP Giri, said the undertrials fled the district jail by breaking open the main gate of the prison. He said the inmates were agitated over delayed supply of food since Wednesday. Things turned violent when no food could be served to them till 7 pm. Altogether 20 of the prisoners were...

NEW DELHI, August 29: The National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN) has warned the Indian Army of desisting from any action that would jeopardise the ongoing peace process and stop aiding and abetting SS Khaplang and his mercenaries. Reacting to two news items "Army warns against violence" and "CFMG meet held" in the Dimapur-based Nagaland Page on August 22, the NSCN said the "ulterior motives" of the Indian Army was questionable. It said the current ceasefire was between the Indian government and the NSCN and not between NSCN and Khaplang or between the Indian government and Khaplang. The...