Ahead of the consultation meeting convened by the Government of Nagaland on 12th September 2024 (Thursday) to deliberate on the Naga political issue, The Naga Rising has urged the gathering “to seriously consider the formation of a ‘PEOPLE’S PLATFORM’ with representatives from all sections of Naga society with the mandate to MEDIATE and take forward the PEACE INITIATIVE towards the signing of a single agreement.”
The Naga Rising stated that the meeting is an opportunity to “MOVE BEYOND THE PRACTICE OF PASSING RESOLUTIONS AND INSTEAD FRAME A COLLECTIVE RESPONSE THAT PRESENTS A CLEAR PLAN OF ACTION.”
Reminding that it had made suggestions on the Naga peace process even on earlier public consultations, The Naga Rising stated these ideas:
“1. We support early resolution as desired by the Naga masses.
- Solution must be honourable as repeatedly assured by the Government of India (GoI) to the Naga public since peace talks began 25 years ago.
- Negotiations must be based on a ‘give and take’ approach and any agreement signed must be mutually acceptable to both the GoI and the Naga Political Groups (NPGs) and it cannot be imposed.
- As was stated in public through a previous interlocutor, we support the clear assertion of the GoI that there is only one peace process, which is inclusive and that eventually there will be only one agreement as we cannot fragment the Naga issue.
- In the context of the current impasse in the peace process, we propose a mechanism to help facilitate the peace process that embodies a peaceful, inclusive and honourable solution. The NPGs must take a common position/approach on the peace process leaving aside their intractable differences.”
