A way forward on the Naga peace process
An appeal to the august gathering of March 9 issued by The Naga Rising
The consultation called by the Government of Nagaland on March 9, 2022 is an opportunity to MOVE BEYOND THE PRACTICE OF PASSING RESOLUTIONS AND INSTEAD TO FRAME A COLLECTIVE RESPONSE AND PLAN OF ACTION.
It is a gathering of the best minds from all over Nagaland and we remain hopeful that the collective wisdom generated from this meeting will show us the path to move forward.
The Naga Rising has on earlier occasions humbly put forward some of our thoughts and ideas on the Naga peace process.
- We support early resolution as desired by the 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 and cannot be imposed.
- As was wisely stated in public through the previous interlocutor RN Ravi,we support the clear assertion of the GoI that there is only one peace process, which is inclusive and 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 to the august gathering to work out a mechanismto conclude the peace process in the interest of a peaceful, inclusive and honourable solution. The NPGs must take a common position/approach on the peace process leaving aside their intractable differences
Therefore, based on the above points, The Naga Rising would like to humbly suggest the following to the March 9 public gathering:
- a)The august gathering mandates the appointment of a Peace Initiativeor group of mediator with representatives from all sections of Naga society to work for the convergence of NPGs and help facilitate the signing of a single agreement.
Issued in public interest by The Naga Rising
March 8, 2022
