Politics / Nagaland

NEW DELHI, May 28 ? Naga problem is a ?complex issue? but progress is being made in the right direction, Centre?s interlocutor K Padmanabhaiah said today, reports PTI. After briefing Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani here on his recent ?informal? parleys with NSCN (I-M) leadership in Bangkok late last week, Padmanabhaiah told reporters that the talks, aimed at furthering the peace process in Nagaland, would continue.

?It is a complex issue and we are inching forward,? he said adding more rounds of parleys were necessary for the peace process to take a final shape. Asked to comment on a recent...

May 26: The NSCN (I-M)?s threat to go in for a referendum on the integration of Naga-inhabited areas of the Northeast has opened an old wound.

A day after the Naga outfit?s general secretary Th. Muivah was quoted as saying that the issue of integration was ?not negotiable?, Assam and Manipur said they wanted peace in Nagaland but not at the cost of their territorial integrity.

Rejecting the NSCN (I-M)?s roadmap to peace as one that conflicted with the interests of their states, Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi and his Manipur counterpart Okram Ibobi Singh said there was no question of...

Guwahati, May 25: The NSCN (I-M) today threatened to go in for a referendum on its demand for the integration of Naga-inhabited areas of the Northeast if the Centre continued to be indecisive on the issue.

The organisation announced its stand after the talks between its leadership and the Centre?s chief interlocutor, K. Padmanabhaiah, again ended in a deadlock. The meeting was held in Bangkok.

NSCN (I-M) chairman Isak Chisi Swu and general secretary Th. Muivah were unavailable for comment, but a source in the Thai capital confirmed that the duo held firm on the issue of integrating Naga...

BANGKOK, May 25 ? Unification of the Naga territories is standing in the way of a final solution to the peace process, NSCN (IM) chief Thuingaleng Muivah said here emphasising ?the Nagas will never lay down arms, freedom or territories.? ?At the moment the crux of the issue is unification. If the government can understand our issue, we don?t need to hurt them. If they refuse to understand us, the question of referendum will come,? Muivah, told PTI in an interview here.

?Eighty per cent of the Nagas supported the peace process today,? he claimed. Muivah and K Padmanabhaiah, special envoy of...

Guwahati, May 23: After much cajoling over the past two days, NSCN (I-M) leaders Isak Chisi Swu and Th. Muivah today met the Centre?s chief interlocutor, K. Padmanabhaiah, in Bangkok but indicated that this was the last time they were holding talks with a bureaucrat.

There was speculation that the latest round of talks ? originally slated for Wednesday ? would be no more than a stock-taking exercise by Padmanabhaiah and middle-ranking leaders of the NSCN (I-M). The top leadership of the outfit, however, consented to meet the former Union home secretary following meetings between him and other...

KOHIMA, May 19? The NSCN(I-M) has claimed it does not have any relation with Nagaland Transport Minister Yeangpong Konyak and clarified that the arrested activist of the outfit had forcibly used the State government?s vehicle to carry explosives for his personal interest. Assam police had earlier arrested Arun Wangchuk, personal secretary of the Transport Minister and three others, including an NSCN(I-M) activist, on the inter-State border check post in Karbi Anglong district on May 6 and seized a huge cache of explosives.

An NSCN(I-M) release issued here Saturday said the organisation...

KOHIMA, May 18 ? With the Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN) government forming a peace committee to facilitate the Naga peace process, various Naga underground groups have now stressed on the need for establishing unity and understanding among themselves to find an amicable solution to the vexed political problem, reports PTI. With an aim of uniting the warring underground groups, NSCN (I-M) recently circulated a seven-point formula which laid emphasis on peace and re-conciliation among rival factions, but with certain conditions.

After extension of the ceasefire between the Centre and...

Kohima, May 17: In what can be termed as another step towards ?Naga unity?, the apex tribal body of two districts in Nagaland ? the Tuensang-Mon Public Organisation (TMPO) ? has decided to reunite with the Naga Hoho, the umbrella organisation of all Naga tribal bodies and public organisations.

The TMPO formed a committee to prepare the groundwork for the reunion at its recently held meeting at Noklak in Tuensang district. It has also reportedly given an assurance to the Hoho about rejoining it. But both the Hoho and the TMPO are non-committal in public about the development.

A senior Hoho...

Jotsoma (Kohima), May 16: In what could come as a surprise to states like Manipur, the Naga Hoho today struck a chord on accommodation and love for neighbours.

Speaking at a function of the Naga National Council (Panger) here today, a senior Hoho leader Krurovi Peseyie said reconciliation is the key for settling the Naga political issue. ?We should be accommodative towards the interests of neighbouring states,? he said, without naming the states. Peseyie said love, combined with a sincere approach, can resolve any problem.

The demand for the integration of all the Naga-inhabited areas under...

DIMAPUR, May 16 ? The Naga National Council (NNC) while welcoming the ?positive step? taken by the Democratic Alliance government in Nagaland for uniting all Nagas under the aegis of Naga National Unity, on Tuesday reiterated its stand that any settlement ?without involving the NNC? can never achieve a solution to the vexed Indo-Naga political problem. Asserting that the Naga problem, which is a political one, ?needs a political solution?, NNC said. We welcome the Peace Committee formed under the dynamic leadership of the chief minister Neiphiu Rio. NNC general secretary Vizosielhou Nagi was...