Reconciliation forum disheartened over NSCN (I-M) stand
Source: The Sangai Express / Press Trust of India
Kohima, May 22 2012:
The Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR) today said it was "disheartened" to hear media reports about the NSCN (I-M)'s decision to abstain from the proposed re-conciliation meeting scheduled to be held during the last week of this month in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
"If all the Naga political groups were not committed to hammering out their differences then there was no need for the Forum to continue but go back to the Naga people," the Forum said in a statement.
The Forum, a body comprising of leaders from churches, tribal hohos and civil society groups working for past four years for bringing about understanding among different Naga groups pointed out that the Chinag Mai deliberation was being worked out after the leaders of three groups agreed to have a meeting at highest level.
It said such differences and misunderstandings were exactly the reasons why the groups needed to stay in relationship through face to face meetings and discussions.
"It was most disheartening to hear through the media that the NSCN/GPRN (Isak and Muivah) decided to abstain from attending this meeting," the statement said, adding that the Forum did recognize the difficulties that had prompted the group to take such a step.
But the Naga groups needed to stay in relationship through face to face meetings and discussions to remove the differences and misunderstandings among them, the Forum said.
The statement said, "if the Naga national political groups are not committed to hammering out their differences on the basis of the resolutions adopted by the Naga people on February 29, 2012 and to finding a lasting peace, the FNR has a moral basis but no practical basis to persist, and the Forum has no option but to go back to the Naga people" .
Following the February 29 re-conciliation meet, the leaders of three groups � NSCN (I-M), NNC/FGN, and NSCN (Khole-Kitovi) during the meetings from March 19 to 22 in Chinang Mai, agreed to have a "highest level meeting" at the earliest, the statement said, adding that they also agreed that the venue would be in Chiang Mai.
As per their request, the Forum was preparing for all logistical arrangements to the proposed meeting scheduled for last part of this month, but it was dismayed over the reported decision of NSCN(I-M) .
The Forum once again appealed to all the Naga groups to honour the assurances of their leaders at the highest levels to meet by taking this opportunity to hammer out all differences for the common interest and good of the Nagas.
"The FNR assures that this meeting will create the space to constructively address all recent misunderstandings that have been expressed through the media," the statement said, adding "making statements from a distance will only widen the gulf, creating more confusion and heightening tensions" .
At the initiative of the FNR, the three groups had signed the Covenant of Reconciliation (CoR) in Chiang Mai in 2008, leading to cessation of hostilities among the groups.
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