Stand for unconditional unity —Working committee

Dimapur, Nov. 9 (EMN): The working committee of Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs) has termed the NSCN (IM) statement asking other groups to join it under the ‘framework agreement’, at this point of time, “a tragedy”. “If the published statement was intended to reach out and convince the groups who are not a party in the ongoing peace process between the GoI and the Nagas to come forward and be a part of ‘framework agreement’ of August 3, 2015, it is up to the concerned Naga groups (sic) to reciprocate. If it was intended to ask the WC, NNPGs to come under FA, of August 3, the leadership may consider few points as to why the ‘framework agreement’ was and will remain an inferior political document now and in the future,” the committee stated in a press release issued on Saturday. It stated that posterity will hold on to the content of both the ‘framework agreement’ and the ‘agreed position’ signed between the working committee and the government of India on November 17, 2017. Nonetheless, it appealed to all Naga groups to “prepare themselves for unconditional unity”. “The NNPGs stand for Naga unity without any condition and so the NNPGs will not set any condition to any individual or group. Naga people have seen and heard enough of the slogan, ‘the door is open’; this has scattered the Nagas more, rather than regrouping, in the past. The greatest problem among the Naga political groups that has, time and again, thwarted genuine reconciliation and unity is the seemingly unending, unacceptable narrative of a single group and their obsessive desire to suppress the Naga people through the barrel of a gun and a propaganda machine that oscillates between sustained madness and irrational sense of nationalism,” read the statement. It stated that the committee had negotiated with government of India on the principle and basis of 1929 Naga memorandum and 1951 Naga plebiscite. “After days and days of sustained negotiations with the Indian interlocutor insisting on historical milestones, finally through the solidarity and prayer support of our people, the ‘agreed position’ emerged and is crystal clear today.” According to the committee, Naga people can trust on the preamble signed between New Delhi and the NNPGs “to which our aspiration is clearly redefined in this historic document”. “As simple as it sounds, no nation on earth can say Nagas do not have unique history and situation. Does this recognition assures or guarantees our self-determination? No. The ‘framework agreement’ of NSCN (IM) simply recognises our past history (sic),” it stated.