National Socialist Council of Nagalim – Isak and Muiva (NSCN-IM) has stated on Wednesday that it is ‘resolute’ not to allow any form of exploration of natural oil and gas from the Naga territories until an honourable political settlement between the Nagas and Government of India is sealed.
In its statement, the NSCN-IM said that the Nagas have defended its God given 600 million tonnes of oil and natural gas reserves for 70 years that the Government had been eyeing since the formation of the state in 1963. It added that no authority will be given the liberty to exploit the blessed wealth of Nagas as long as GOI continues to handle the Naga political issue with flattering and betraying fashion.
The Naga group asserted that it stands by its order made more than 20 years ago that ‘no mineral wealth in Naga areas will be allowed for exploration and extraction until political settlement is arrived at.’ ‘…. no amount of justification in the name of mobilizing financial resources for development will stand to ride roughshod over the inalienable Naga people’s rights over their land resources,’ it said.
The NSCN- IM stated that ‘the oil issue has come at the time when the Government of India is showing no sincerity and commitment to respect the historical and political rights of the Naga people as enshrined in the historic Framework Agreement of August 3, 2015, and pulling the Indo-Naga political talks for more than 25 years on flimsy ground of negotiating on the non-negotiable issue of Naga National Flag and Constitution.’
It further said that GOI should give the same importance and commitment to the political settlement as it is giving to the mineral wealth of Nagaland.
