Demeaning Ravi GOI's New Interlocuter of the Indo-Naga peace talks ?

Naga International Support Center, NISC *

Speculation has it that R. N. Ravi, who retired as Intelligence Bureau special director, will become the next interlocutor of Government of India for the Indo-Naga Peace talks. Omitting decisive facts and in a condescending tone make his article in the much respected the Hindu Newspaper rather untrustworthy if not misleading. Moreover, as a prospective candidate for the post of interlocutor, one of four candidates, he has discredited himself through his writings and acting on behalf of the Government of India, to us, disqualified himself for the important post.

To set the record straight the Naga International Support Center, NISC, shows R.N. Ravi the reality on which the invasion of the Government of India is based. Now the facts:

1 – In the modern sense of the word Nagaland like India was never a nation.

2 – As they fought alongside the British against Germany in Europe during the first World War Nagas learned they could not rely on support and so had to stand up for themselves. They formed the Naga Club and told the Simon Commission in 1929 they wanted to be left alone once the British would leave.

3 – In 1947 Nagas sent their declaration of Independence one day ahead of the Indian Union and did so on the advice of Mahatma Gandhi who told them they had every right to be independent. He opined that the Nagas should be granted the right to self governance if they so desired it, just as the people of India desired it from the British: We did not want to live under the domination of the British and they are now leaving us." When questioned further about Indian threats of violence, Gandhi continued, "I will come to the Naga Hills. I will ask them to shoot me first before one Naga is shot."

4 – The 9-point agreement stipulated the Nagas would be with India for ten years after which they could decide to stay within India or decide otherwise. This agreement however was turned down by the Lok Sabha.

5 – In 1953 after meeting U Nu of Burma in Kohima Nagas wanted to talk to Nehru about their future. He declined whereupon the Nagas walked out on him when addressing the crowd. Nehru felt insulted and is quoted to have said: "Heaven may fall and the rivers may turn red with blood but I will never let the Nagas go. A year later and so after the plebiscite organized by the Nagas proved an overwhelming majority of Nagas wanted to be free of Indian domination. Yet India did not acknowledge this plebiscite.

6 – The British only colonized a small portion, less than one-third of Naga territory, and called the large rest 'unadministered' areas of the Free Nagas. So, how could the British 'cede' something that was not theirs to the then emerging Union of India? Let India prove that Nagaland truly belongs to India!!!

7 – 16-point agreement leading to the formation of Nagaland State (1963) incorporated the beginnings of the Divide and Rule Policy

8 – 1975 the so called Shillong Accord, a brainchild of the designers of the Divide and Rule Policy, divided the Nagas

9 – Exported corruption: Money and weapons distributed by the Government of India divided the Nagas further, a mighty weapon paying off to this day because of the susceptible Nagas

10 – In 1988 money and weapons again made NSCN Khaplang, a split off of the NSCN formed in 1980, decide to set up his own faction

Mr. Ravi because it looks like you bestow little to no respect on the Nagas, tell us why do you want them in India if you actually regard them as lesser human beings? Why is it so important to you to keep them inside India against their will? From your perspective: Are they not less than Dalits?

In 1997, the NSCN and the Government of India agreed to a ceasefire with subsequent peace talks which continue to this day, but while the talks go on the divide and rule policy went into full swing the sound of which reverberates in every nook and corner in Nagaland. Being occupied by somewhat like 200.000 soldiers of the Indian Army and Paramilitary Forces like the Assam Rifles whose bad activities are protected for being held accountable by the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, the situation for both Naga Civilians and Naga soldiers has eroded further to the point that whole Naga generations do not feel safe and secure in their own land. With no prospect of a better life and with the peace negotiators driven into a corner many a Naga has lost hope the NSCN can achieve an honourable solution to this huge and long conflict, a conflict that has made many casualties and has made many Nagas suffer intolerably.

The Naga International Support Center questions the sincerity and intentions of the Government of India when it shamelessly considers appointing R.N. Ravi to be its next interlocutor for the all important talks for peace.

The Naga International Support Center urges all Naga Organizations to discredit the writings of R.N. Ravi because they are one sided, demeaning, distorted and are lacking facts. Because he sets the tone for the Government of India and so aims to depreciate the Naga Peoples nationwide, we urge you not accept R.N. Ravi as the interlocutor for the peace talks between India and the Nagas.

For more information visit www.nagalim.nl or email us [email protected]
A Naga International Support Center, NISC www.nagalim.nl
A human rights organization

Nagaland: descent into chaos
The Hindu / R.N. Ravi
Link here

The reckless 'ceasefire' between the Government of India and the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN-IM), a militia predominantly of the Tangkhul tribe of Manipur, for the last 17 years is pushing the Nagas into a state of civil war. While the protagonists of the 'ceasefire,' New Delhi and the NSCN (I-M), are in mutual comfort capering about the mulberry bush without a stopwatch, the process has landed the Nagas in an orbit of self-destruction. They are far more fragmented and fractious than before.

The Naga society is seething with multiple tensions intermittently erupting into morbid fratricidal violence. The wars in Zunheboto between the local Sema Nagas and the NSCN (I-M) that left several dead and scores injured on both sides, the discovery of mass graves in and around Dimapur, and the closing of ranks by six tribes of eastern Nagaland — Chang, Konyak, Phom, Khaimniungan, Yimchunger and Sangtan— for a protracted fight for political and administrative separation from other tribes of Nagaland are some of the latest grim portents of their fraught predicament.

Over 1,800 Nagas have been killed in some 3,000 fratricidal clashes since the beginning of the 'ceasefire' (1997-2013). Contrast it with the violence during the 17 years preceding the 'ceasefire' (1980-96) that took a toll of some 940 Naga lives in 1,125 clashes mostly with the security forces. The irony is underscored by the fact that while the security forces and the NSCN (I-M) have been at mutual 'peace' during the 'ceasefire,' twice as many Nagas have died, killing one another in some 300 per cent escalation in fratricidal violence. The vector of violence has turned inward with a vengeance, from between the security forces and the Naga militias to the one among the Nagas themselves. Some in New Delhi gleefully chuckle at their remarkable feat of trapping the 'belligerent' Nagas in this vicious cycle of fratricidal killings.

Formal talk between GoI-IM likely in mid Feb
The Sangai Express / Newmai News Network
Link here

Dimapur, January 28 2014: Formal peace talk between the NSCN-IM and the Government of India is likely to be held in the middle of February because of which the NSCN-IM is going to celebrate the outfit's foundation day called 'Raising Day' on January 31 without their chairmain Isak Chisi Swu and the outfit's general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah at Camp Hebron, off Dimapur as the two leaders are too busy to spare time to come back to Nagaland for the occasion.

A source disclosed that Swu and Muivah are too busy there in New Delhi as there is a likelihood of the resumption of formal peace talk in the middle of February. "So they can spare no time to come to Nagaland this time," said the source. A separate source from Delhi informed Newmai News Network that the formal parleys between the government of India and the NSCN-IM will be held soon.