Resumption of talks between GoI and IM : Only process, no progress report
- Sangai Express Editorial :: January 30, 2014 -
The only consistency in the ongoing political dialogue between the IM faction of the NSCN and the Government of India is its inconsistency and uncertainty.
This is not a whimsical observation but a statement made after closely studying and monitoring the talk process between the two entities after the ceasefire pact was signed on August 1, 1997.
Nearly 14 years down the line and the engagement between the IM group and GoI has not taken the step from "process to progress".
No wonder there is no "progress report card", except "process report card", a process which has had to proceed through a large number of pot holes.
Much like taking a bus ride through National Highway 53 or National Highway 2 !
It is amid this that report has come in that the next round of 'formal talks' is likely to resume from mid February. The key word here is formal.
If the next round of talk is going to be 'formal' then wouldn't it be right to say that so far all the earlier rounds of talks have been informal ?
So is the recognition of the 'Unique history of the Nagas', by the Government of India an outcome of some informal talks or an official and formal talk ?
In the midst of the veil of secrecy or vagueness surrounding the political dialogue, it would be hazardous to take a guess or draw a conclusion.
Next round of talk likely from the mid week of February and the interesting point is this was preceded by the pending 'final settlement' that did the round just prior to the election to the Nagaland State Legislative Assembly held last year.
That it did not happen is there for all to see and this is precisely the reason why the likely resumption of the talk, preceded by the term 'formal' has evoked interest amongst the people of the North East region.
Given the past, can the people expect anything concrete from the next round of talk ?
Hard to say, for political dialogues come with its fair share of uncertainties and is more often wrought with the unpredictable than the predictable.
Carrying the hopes of a people, from the days of waging a bush war against the Government of India to the negotiating table, the journey has indeed been long and significant for Messrs Isak Chisi Swu and Th Muivah and their lieutenants and the real test of their political acumen and ability to strike a hard deal may start from the resumption of the talk likely from mid-February especially in the backdrop of the 'final settlement' at hand that did the round last year.
Even as the next round of talk between the IM group and Delhi is likely to be held from mid-February, the United Naga Council has already set a date for the 7th round of tripartite talk involving themselves, the Centre and the State Government on February 6.
Maybe a co-incidence but in many ways, the Alternative Arrangement demand raised by the UNC cannot be seen in isolation of the political dialogue between the Government of India and the NSCN (IM).
This is where the interesting point lies.
Look at it from another angle then it may not be altogether wrong to say that the political dialogue between New Delhi and the NSCN (IM) is two pronged-one led by the rebel outfit and the other led by a civil society organisation.
Do they complement each other adopting two different approaches to the same issue or are there no connections whatsoever between the two ?
Whatever the case, what can be said with a degree of certainty is the fact that Manipur as a geo-political entity is central to both the issues raised by the UNC and the NSCN (IM).
Difficult to find the dividing line between the call for bringing all Naga inhabited areas under one administrative unit and an Alternative Arrangement for the Nagas of Manipur outside the Government of Manipur, pending a final solution to the Indo-Naga process.
This is the acid test for all the stake holders and if not treated with the sensitivity it deserves, then it may well amount to resolving one issue and giving birth to numerous other contentious issues.
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