Veiled but candid missives for Rio, Naga MLAs coincide with Assembly session

Nirendra Dev *

A section of Naga rebel leaders have conveyed to the centre that they also believe that raising of the twin demands for the Naga Flag and a separate Constitution post-October 2019 was "ill-timed".

"Such a move harmed the interest of Nagaland state and the Naga cause in general especially at a time when things had progressed well on all fronts," a source said here.

The centre has also conveyed to the "concerned NNPG leaders" that they would be well advised to "desist from factional clashes" and maintain peace. The Govt of India is also not keen to get involved in their internal politics.

The monsoon session of Nagaland assembly has got underway in Kohima and will continue till Aug 28. The session was postponed earlier and no valid reason was attributed.

Coinciding with these came an article by BJP veteran M Chuba Ao. The article is an opinion piece and his views are personal.

But BJP national vice president Chuba sounds candid. "The Naga talks and discussions at various levels were completed by October 2019. But then suddenly -out of nowhere there came two demands of Flag and Constitution. How many people and leaders really worked hard to convince the concerned players that such demands can never be met?," ran the article published in local papers including a politically influential one.

"It is a collective failure of all concerned in the state of Nagaland," Chuba notes. Here lies the key missive, - Mr Rio, his two Deputy CMs and other MLAs should try to understand as the House proceedings are conducted.

NNPG leaders Alezo Venuh and N Kitovi Zhimomi have met key stakeholders in Delhi during the last one month or so. "Our meeting was great," was a common refrain from the camps.

Kitovi and Alezo after steering the NNPG leadership together for quite a long parted ways in April this year. These developments coincided with the marathon Lok Sabha election season.

In September 2022, Home Minister Amit Shah made it absolutely clear to Nagaland Ministers and others during a meeting in Delhi that -- "What cannot be given, cannot be given today, tomorrow or day after".

Analysts in Delhi maintain that the Nagaland leaders, ministers, Chief Minister Neiphiu and other MLAs either did not understand what Shah had said... or they deliberately did not favour expediting the talks process.

"Now, past is past, we should and we will lay emphasis on moving ahead," the source says. In some quarters, the delay in peace parleys around 2023 was generally attributed to one particular group for raising the twin demands of Naga Flag and a separate Naga Constitution.

The Government of India had maintained that the peace talks had ended by October 31, 2019 and the issues of Flag and Constitution were raised by NSCN-IM leaders only as an 'afterthought'.

For his part, Mr Rio and the entire NDPP-BJP regime and state legislators have been keeping their fingers crossed since June 4 - the day Lok Sabha results left PM Narendra Modi and his team stunned in more ways than one.

Even the state Power Minister K G Kenye made some remarks on the power situation in Nagaland and he tried to pass the buck to New Delhi. Funding from the centre is now need-based and that also projects-specific depending on what moves on ground and not merely what moves on in files.

The state leaders were "repeatedly advised" to meet up NSCN-IM leaders at the earliest and it was also stressed that everyone should be 'pragmatic'. A series of meetings also took place under the aegis of FNR.

Nagaland Chief Minister Rio, who heads a coalition since 2018 wherein BJP is a partner, had tweeted about the deliberations of Sept 12 in 2022 and wrote: "....Once again, we urged the GoI to expedite the protracted negotiations".

Analysts say there were attempts by some quarters in Nagaland to blame the centre for the 'delay' in signing the peace pact. However, the move had almost backfired as the centre has made it clear that the ball was in the court of a militant organisation.

In the context of Jammu and Kashmir, Home Minister Amit Shah made it clear in Lok Sabha that India cannot entertain the concepts of two flags and two prime ministers. The pro-solution umbrella group of seven militant groups Naga National Political Group (NNPG) was also keen to sign a final peace deal. A new set of Formulation Papers was given by the centre for the underground organisation(s).

Note what Chuba Ao of BJP says acidly: ".... we look towards New Delhi only for money and benefits and back in our villages we keep thinking and daydreaming -- some miracles will happen and there will be a perfect paradise for us. We start hoping that life will move automatically without New Delhi's or India's love, support and assistance."

Rio as Chief Minister and also an experienced Finance Minister may have to read these statements more seriously.

The BJP veteran also says: ".... before we hope for a decisive and a determined step from the Prime Minister; will it not be wise to talk about the roles our own people and leaders have played in the context of the Solution? But we should be ready for the new changes. The common people, politicians and social workers at all levels should also make sacrifices and work for the Solution".

Should people live by possibility of defeats or fear of doubts ?