No one, least of all Messrs Khaplang, Thuingaleng Muivah and Isak Chisi Swu would have thought that the deep differences between them would one day come to pose the greatest hurdle to thrashing out a workable solution to the decades old Naga problem when they took up the guns and embraced a life in the jungle to fight the Indian armed forces early in their lives. The two factions of the NSCN are involved in a peace dialogue with the Government of India but that has not stopped them from training their guns on each other leading to bloodshed and gore. And this is precisely what must be disturbing the Naga people.
Add to this, the growing animosity between the Naga National Council under the leadership of Adinho Phizo and the NSCN (IM) and the situation at Nagaland cannot be exactly called conducive. The gunning down of four NSCN (K) cadres by suspected NSCN (IM) men at Nagaland on October 17 is yet another manifestation of the deep divide between the two rival groups. We really do not know the compelling factors that led to the bifurcation of the NSCN into the IM and K group in 1988 but what we can say with certainty is the differences between the two factions run deep and it will take more than mere appeals from the Naga civil societies for the two rival groups to patch up and say amen.
It is not just anger but deep hatred for each other that seems to drive these two groups. The NNC too has been maintaining that the IM group does not have the mandate to
represent the Naga people. Intrinsic in the stand off between these three different entities is the claim to the exalted position of being the sole representative of the Naga people. How this issue is resolved will prove to be the crux of the matter staring the Naga people in the face.
Apart from the differences running through these three organizations, the towering presence of Nagaland Chief Minister SC Jamir is another point that has to be taken into consideration. Already the book released by the NPCC and largely thought to be the brainchild of Jamir, "Bedrock of Naga Society" has triggered a heated debate amongst the Naga people and it will be interesting to see how this debate will influence the voters when Nagaland goes to polls early next year.
Everyone knows there is no love lost between SC Jamir and the NSCN (IM) and there have been charges and counter charges between Jamir and the leadership of the outfit. To say that this will not have any impact on the Naga peace process would tantamount to refusing to call a spade a spade. To really understand the Naga problem one has to go back to the memorandum submitted to the Simon Commission, the plebiscite of 1951, the Shillong Accord of 1975, the formation of the NSCN in 1980 and the split of the NSCN into the IM group and Khaplang group in 1988.
These are all momentous marks in the history of the Naga armed struggle and ignoring one of them at the cost of another will only obscure the picture. Enough blood has been shed and the Naga people would certainly not want any entity to train their gun on the other in the name of protecting the interest of the people. When did fratricidal killings come to be equated with protecting the interest of the people? This question can best be answered only by the leadership of the two factions of the NSCN and the
NNC.
(Courtesy: The Sangai Express)
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