GoI-IM Deal : Union Home Ministry Presents Six Point Proposal To Ibobi
Toss up between 6th Schedule, more autonomy, Constitutional amendment
Source: The Sangai Express / Ninglun

New Delhi/Imphal, October 22 2012: One day after meeting Union Home Minister Shushil Kumar Shinde on October 20 at New Delhi, an official from the Union Home Minister presented the six point draft proposal to Chief Minister O Ibobi at Manipur Bhawan yesterday morning.

The six point draft proposal pertains to the settlement which is reported to be close at hand after a prolonged political dialogue between the Centre and the NSCN (IM) .

Though nothing official has come out as yet, sources from the Home Ministry said that some of the probable alternatives for working out a settlement could hinge around 'more autonomy', 'amendment of the Indian Constitution,' and 'areas to be administered under the 6th Schedule of the Constitution' .

During the meeting on October 9 at New Delhi, the Union Home Minister had reportedly asked the Chief Minister, "What is the harm in giving Alternative Arrangements to the Nagas" .

According to Union Home Ministry sources, a draft proposal has been prepared and the same has been placed before the Chief Minister of Assam Tarun Gogoi, Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi and Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Nabam Tuki.

(Map of NE India) Gogoi of Assam; Ibobi of Manipur and Tuki of Arunachal Pradesh

The final approval or rather the stamp of agreement by the Chief Ministers of the three States will be the key to the solution being sought, said the sources.

Significantly this is the first time that the Chief Minister of Manipur has been taken into confidence in the long, drawn out process of the peace talk with the IM group since 1997 .

The draft proposal was however prepared without consulting the State Government.

It is only the approval that is being sought.

In 2001 when the 'without territorial limits' clause was inserted in the peace talk, the Government of Manipur was not consulted.

Nine years later, in 2010, the State Government too was not consulted, when the Centre gave the go ahead signal to the proposal that Th Muivah visit his birth place at Somdal.

The Home Ministry sources however brushed aside any question of time frame and refused to say when the final outcome is expected to come.

On the other hand, Chief Minister of Manipur could not be reached for comment.

Officials at Manipur Bhawan in Delhi informed that he is no longer in the capital city.

Though the Chief Minister is reported to have put up a strong case for the territorial integrity of Manipur, no other details of the meetings with the Union Home Ministry are available.