The Working Committee of the Naga National Political Groups (WC, NNPGs) has strongly denied speculation that it is working towards a joint political agreement with the NSCN(IM), reiterating that it has “never, officially or otherwise,” expressed any desire to be part of a pact where the NSCN(IM) is also a signatory.
In a statement issued by its media cell, the WC said that talk of a “Common Draft” is an initiative of the Government of India (GoI) aimed at achieving an inclusive Naga political solution. While acknowledging this draft in principle, the WC NNPGs made it clear that any such proposal must not disturb the “core fabric” of the Agreed Position signed on November 17, 2017, an agreement it called “the only historical pact distinctly pinpointing the Nagas’ right to self-determine their future, while respecting contemporary political realities.”
The WC NNPGs credited the Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR) for bringing Naga political groups together through three key agreements — the Covenant of Reconciliation (13th June 2009), the Naga Concordant (26th August 2011), and the Lenten Agreement (28th March 2014). However, it accused the NSCN(IM) of using these agreements only to reflect legitimacy and impress New Delhi, culminating in the signing of the Framework Agreement (FA) on August 3, 2015. It said the NSCN (IM) went to Delhi without a single stakeholder from the FNR, apex tribal bodies, the Church or civil society groups and signed.
“The rest, they is history,” it said.
The WC NNPGs alleged that the Framework Agreement was signed without consultation with Naga tribes and that even today Nagas are not privy to their real political conversation. “For this very reason, the indigenous Nagas, the ancestral entities do not consider FA as genuinely theirs,” it said.
It also dismissed the use of term “Nagalim” in Agreement as “utopian”, irrelevant and non-existent in the Naga history and said that “Nagaland” and not “Nagalim” was used in the Framework Agreement headline.
Stating that all FNR guided agreements lay in tatters, the WC NNPGs further alleged that skeletons are protruding from the ground as to why the Framework Agreement has become a secret agenda incapable of standing scrutiny before the Naga people.
“ From the very beginning it was designed as an exclusive closed-door subject of select few within NSCN (IM) set-up. The very idea of inclusive Naga political solution is an anathema to them,” it stated.
It further stated that the real motive over NSCN (IM)’s Flag and Constitution is more of an insurance policy, an emotional tool to continue transferring Nagaland’s wealth to acquire assets in Ukhrul and elsewhere and to transfer Intangki Reserve Forest stretch and surrounding areas, create a township for Nagas from Manipur only. It said with such elaborate future plan in the closet, the NSCN (IM) leadership have every reason to accuse WC NNPGs and Agreed Position as “dangerous”.
Calling the Framework Agreement and Agreed Position “poles apart,” the WC NNPGs said the latter offers a clear blueprint for the future relationship between the Government of India and the Nagas, while the FA “remains an undeclared document” fully aware Nagas will not accept it inner details.
The WC NNPGs said the Government of India has already conveyed to the NSCN (IM) leadership that the Intangki Reserve Forest belongs to the Naga people and Government of India cannot transfer to NSCN (IM) members from Manipur in any manner under the shadow of “Pan Naga Hoho”. “WC NNPGs foresaw this plan, pointed it out during negotiations and reaffirmed that under no circumstances should the Intangki Reserve Forest be disturbed post solution,” it added.
Claiming that WC NNPGs corrected the wrongs of Framework Agreement, it alleged that NSCN (IM) is not for solution, not for Naga Flag, not for Naga Constitution and not for Naga Integration. “They are for Intangki Reserve Forest, to control Nagaland, Manipur and Assam corridor,” it further said.
It said Nagas want early honorable and acceptable political solution and WC NNPGs have negotiated a clear roadmap in line with the desire of the Naga people. It said Government of India is preparing a “common draft” from both Framework Agreement and Agreed Position and “now NSCN (IM) says it is dangerous to work or sit together with NNPGs.”
Download Nagaland Tribune app on Google Play
“Simply put, they are against the Naga people and want to sabotage Naga solution. It is clearly visible that Naga solution will jeopardize their (NSCN-IM) secret plan. Logically, NSCN IM is blackmailing both the Naga people and the GoI,” it added.
The WC emphasised that it has carried out wide consultations, with the negotiated Status Paper of the Agreed Position shared with apex tribal bodies, village chiefs, elected leaders, student organisations, and church leaders in all Naga areas, including Nagaland, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and Assam.
Stating that the existing states and international boundaries within Naga ancestral lands are “legacies of the past” and a part of “contemporary political realities”, the WC NNPGs said during negotiations, these Naga lands were primary subjects needing special political arrangements deserving tremendous political and administrative autonomy.
