The Naga Peace Accord and Th Muivah

Thoudam Imomacha Singh *

Interlocutor RN Ravi with NSCN-IM General Secretary Th Muivah :: Pix - TSE

The Naga Peace Accord signed between the Government of India and the National Socialist Council of Nagalim or the NSCN (IM) cam after a long wait and the accord has now been accredited the status of a “blue print.

Of course, the exact details of the accord are yet to be made public. All said and done, one can note that the “indelible stigma” attached to the accord is the fact that Thuingaleng Muivah is “a Tangkhul Naga from Manipur”.

Some observer has concluded his political credibility with this epithet.

There is no doubt about the fact that Thuingaleng Muivah is a leader who has stood by the Naga movement and along the way has also streamlined benefits essential for a protagonist. However, it is should be noted that that Naga stalwart has also been accused of “pogrom and massacre” by another tribe.

All the Goverments led by any political party in New Delhi have learnt to “willfully tolerate” with certain reported excesses of NSCN (IM).

The big question now is that some Naga communities in the region have not accepted the “primogeniture status of Thuingaleng Muivah.”

Other outfits like the NSCN (K), GPRN/NSCN and others precisely have demonstrated the ground reality of the Naga movement in the region. While their views have been made pubic from time to time, we also know that Muivah was not given a chance to step into Manipur after his prolonged engagement with the Naga movement.

Prior to Narendra Modi becoming the Prime Minister, the NSCN (IM) representatives met an Indian Prime Minister in 1995.That was in a foreign land. They met another Prime Minister that too abroad. In fact, nothing came out of these meetings. It was said that Dr Manmohan Singh talked to the NSCN (IM) delegation in a meeting in New Delhi when he was the Prime Minister. All the talks were described as more or less fruitful but not much came out of these talks.

The New Delhi regimes led by BJP are known for playing the Naga card and it now seems the Government led by Modi has not learnt much lesson from the past.

The question of the extension of cease-fire between the Government of India and the NSCN (IM) to Manipur had caused a political havoc in Manipur years back that led to the June 18 uprising which is now commemorated every year.

The ephemeral rule of the BJP ended in 2004. The Congress Government had ruled for another fifteen years. The three terms of the Congress rule ended with scams and scandals. Another NDA rule led by the BJP returned to New Delhi.

But, it seems the party has not given up its habits of stirring the hornets’ nest, every now and again.

The BJP cannot dare to face the ire of the Manipuris, in case of any violation of her territorial integrity. The Prime Minister, the Home Minister and the interlocutor of the Naga peace talks may believe in many semantics of the ongoing issues.

They must realize that the slightest mistake of dismembering the geographical structure of Manipur would certainly jeopardize the delicate fabrics of not only the society comprised of various ethnic groups but also Indian unity.