NSCN faction led by S S Khaplang walked away from the ceasefire two months ago saying the unjust peace is no peace at all and 14 years of ceasefire between the outfit and India has become a mockery and futile exercise. The outfit also stated that the ‘shallow commitment’ and politics of ‘deceit’ have become a hallmark tradition of India to engage in peace and political discourses and that the Nagas’ sovereign legacy cannot be negotiated or relegated to mere ceasefire proceedings.After the NSCN-K made this announcement there were not many comments on the issue in the national media. In fact, the government of India and the national media did not take the issue seriously. The local newspapers did their best to alert the government on the detrimental consequences of the ceasefire abrogation but to no avail.
Two months down the line today we saw the Army’s increasing demands for more body bags. Top commentators and leading newspaper editorials engage in hectic hyperbolic discourses on ‘who, whys and hows’ of the Northeast affairs. They are pointing their fingers in all directions—west, east, south and north—for the troubles. Regular commentator Pradip R Sagar quoting Indian Intelligence points finger at Pakistan saying it was at the behest of the latter’s ISI that its ‘newborn associate’, the NSCN-Khaplang faction, has declared war on India. His comment was published in The New Indian Express newspaper. Again, the Press Trust of India (PTI), the premier news agency of the country quoting a senior government official reported that leader of the hardline faction of ULFA Paresh Baruah had convinced NSCN-K leader S S Khaplang to snap the ceasefire agreement with Indian government in March last. Baruah was acting following instructions from some senior officials of China’s PLA, said the report. Still, Indian intelligence also suspected Mynanmar’s hand for the prevailing situation in the NE region. There was one interesting report in The Asian Age. “In a startling revelation the report sent to Mr Singh pointed out that top home ministry official who was constantly in touch with Manipur chief minister Ibobi Singh travelled to Arunachal Pradesh to meet the NSCN-K commanders a week before Mr Khaplang announced unilaterally to break the ceasefire,” the national daily newspaper reported.
Meanwhile, the intelligence agencies will continue to enjoy engaging in speculative work on ‘who, hows and whys’ in connection with the prevailing situation even as the people painfully and cautiously negotiate through the crossfire.
