The Naga Rising in a press statement issued on 23 November called upon the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, to resolve the Naga issue before showcasing the Hornbill Festival on a global stage when India assumes the G20 precedency on 1 December.

The statement read: “As India shoulders global leadership role, it must ask what would better reflect India’s image at the global stage – resolving the Naga political issue before showcasing the Hornbill Festival of Nagaland ‘through the lens of G20’­ or after.”

The Naga Rising further called upon the Prime Minister to “demonstrate courage and clarify the ambiguity surrounding the stand of Delhi” on the Naga political issue. This would help pave the way for the solution, it said.

“The Government of India (GoI) can resolve the Naga issue if it accepts the simple truth that the Naga issue is political in natural – not cultural or law and order,” the statement further highlighted.

The Naga Rising further called attention to the “wide spectrum of political support” to the Naga peace process by successive prime ministers which, it said, should not be undermined.

Referring to the negotiation processes, the statement emphasised that “the NPGs have gone out of their way to understand the difficulties of the GoI and have met the GoI halfway on integration, sovereignty and other core issues that were earlier considered non-negotiable by the Nagas” and highlighted that the flag and constitution remains the only unresolved issues.

The Naga Rising also suggested that the flag and constitution neither are a threat nor do they diminish India’s emergence as a global power.  These are symbols “embedded in the unique history and situation of the Nagas,” it stated.

As such, these much be acknowledged and recognised by the Government of India. This would be a way of “honouring Naga integration, which Naga negotiators have agreed to pursue later,” it added.

The statement further stated that this would help in realising “the ’special arrangement’ for the Nagas that has been promised at the highest level of the GoI”.

The Naga Rising suggested that the issue should be resolved without further decay. “The long years of investing in the peace process for an honourable solution by the Naga people should be respected by both Delhi and Naga Political Groups (NPGs).”

It further claimed that “uncertainty continues to loom larger over the Naga issue” and the negotiators should ensure that hope of the Naga people does not turn into despair.

The release also mentioned that while Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at international forums, has been sharing the message that the present era is not the time for war, he should “in the same breath” also realise “that this is not the era of divide and rule but of peace and resolution.”