Politics / Nagaland

Feb. 22: Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio is pinning his hopes on the state government?s peace panel to bring together warring Naga militant groups. However, similar efforts by influential tribal bodies appear to have hit a dead-end.

Rio told mediapersons at Guwahati that the committee, which was set up last year after the Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN) assumed power, would continue its initiative, iterating that the process of ensuring peace among all the factions was on track.

Rio?s remark came after a parallel bid by two apex tribal organisations to unite the groups started...

Kohima, Feb. 22: The Nagaland Students? Federation (NSF) has alleged that Assam had been pushing in Bangladeshi and Adivasi migrants to grab ?land belonging to Nagas?.

Throwing their weight behind Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio, the students? federation reacted angrily to his Assam counterpart Tarun Gogoi?s comments on the border dispute between the two states. The NSF also questioned Assam?s claim to royalty on oil deposits within Merapani.

?There should be no border dispute at all as the whole Marachui (Merapani) area belongs to the Nagas,? NSF president Achumbemo Kikon said. He said...

Dimapur, Feb. 19: The abortive bid of the Naga National Council (NNC) to hold its reconciliation meeting at Wokha yesterday has spawned a fresh round of accusations and counter-charges.

Responding to the NNC?s allegation that the state government had sabotaged the Wokha meet, chief minister Neiphiu Rio today hit back, saying that the NNC was trying to pass the buck for its own failures.

Rio also said those involved in organising the now-doomed show of unity were not genuine leaders but those who were trying to make a mockery of the people.

?In this conducive atmosphere, do you think anybody...

Kohima, Feb. 19: Opposition Congress in Nagaland has been trying to clinch a deal with former chief minister K.L. Chishi?s party ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

State Congress president and former chief minister S.C. Jamir said talks were on to form a tie-up with Chishi?s Nationalist Democratic Party (NDM), a partner in the ruling Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN). The Congress needs succour badly in its former stronghold.

?We will surely have an alliance with secular and like-minded parties,? Chishi told The Telegraph over phone from New Delhi today. Chishi has been one of the well...

Kohima, Feb. 18: The Nagaland government will release 56 rebels detained under the National Security Act as a ?goodwill gesture?. The detained rebels include 30 members of the NSCN (IM).

A state Cabinet decision to this effect was taken at chief minister Neiphiu Rio?s official residence here yesterday. The Cabinet had met to discuss recommendations of a sub-committee formed last year in this regard.

Besides the NSCN (I-M) cadres, the list includes 24 activists from NSCN (Khaplang) and two from the Federal Government of Nagaland (FGN). All of them were arrested for being members of underground...

Feb. 17: The Naga National Council (NNC) today called off its reconciliation meeting, scheduled to be held in Wokha tomorrow, and accused both the Neiphiu Rio government and the NSCN (I-M) of sabotaging its peace efforts.

A day before the NNC was to hold the reconciliation meeting in Wokha, the state government imposed Section 144 CrPC in the town. An irate V. Nagi, general secretary of the NNC, came down heavily on the state government and the Isak-Muivah faction of the NSCN, adding that his outfit?s role in reconciliation was now over. ?We may take up arms now,? he warned.

The NNC also...

DIMAPUR, Feb 14 ? With the inauguration of the district headquarter at Peren by Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, the decade-old dreams of the people of the region turned into reality on Wednesday last. Carved out of Kohima district, Peren also known as ?Rice Bowl of Nagaland? became the 11th district of Nagaland amidst thousands of Zeliangrong tribesmen shouting slogans ? ringtei lo (long live) Peren district'.

?Speaking on the occasion Rio, said, ?Creation of a district is only a means to achieve the objectives of accelerating the administration closer to the people?. Expressing...

Dimapur, Feb. 13: The NSCN (I-M) today virtually sealed the fate of the shaky reconciliation process, mocking the Naga National Council?s Wokha meet slated for next Wednesday as ?ridiculous?. Rubbing salt into the wound, it claimed that ?most of the genuine NNC leaders? have already defected to it as early back as in 2001.

In a hard-sitting statement today, the NSCN (I-M) said most of the current NNC top brass in the Wokha region are ?self-styled ridiculous leaders? moonlighting in the payroll of the state government as ?work-charge labourers, dak runners and peons?.

The NSCN (I-M) statement...

Dimapur, Feb. 10: Sidelined for years after a faction of the Naga National Council signed the Shillong Accord in 1975, the oldest Naga underground organisation is trying to reinvent itself as a force to reckon with.

It is spearheading a movement to achieve reconciliation among Naga underground and overground groups. To achieve this end, the NNC is holding a pan-Naga meet at Wokha on February 18.

The NNC today made it mandatory for all its activists and leaders of regional authorities to attend the General Meeting on Reconciliation at Wokha (NNC?s Lotha region). It said the meeting would be...

New Delhi, Feb. 8: Back from another peacemaking mission to Bangkok, Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga said leaders of as many as three militant groups of the Northeast were expected to visit New Delhi within a month to begin negotiations with the Centre.

The militant leader-turned-politician met leaders of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) and a couple of other groups during his visit to the Thailand capital. He undertook the mission at the behest of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Zoramthanga said he held ?extensive? discussions with the NSCN (I-M) leadership on...