Everybody wants a solution to the Naga political issue which has been dragging on for several decades, but unlike in the past, many appear to be unclear about what they really want today. The phrase “solution that is honourable, inclusive and acceptable to the people” has been widely used by organisations but the words “honourable”, “inclusive” and “acceptable” are relative words. For instance, what is honourable to one person may not be to another and can even differ like sovereignty and economic package. This calls for the need to sit back for a moment, retrospect, listen to your conscience and find out what you really want in order to ensure that the issue doesn’t recur in your children’s time. When organisations demand for an early settlement, they should know what they want out of the peace talks and also let the people know about the final solution they envision, and not necessarily the ones drafted by the Naga political groups (NPGs) or by the government of India. Negotiating parties and civil society organisations are also confusing the public by speaking different languages on the same issue. It is complicating the process of reaching a consensus on the matter and could lead to further delay in arriving at a meeting point. Trust deficit between the public and the government of India as well as the NPGs is evident today. This issue will spread to civil society organisations as well if not checked.
When the government of India and the NSCN (IM) signed the Framework Agreement on August 3, 2015 in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it gave an impression that several years of peace talks after the signing of ceasefire agreement in 1997 would bear fruit. But people didn’t erupt in jubilation though it was dubbed as “Historic”. Another agreement called Agreed Position was signed between the Indian government and the Working Committee, Naga National Political Groups on November 17, 2017. But Nagas didn’t celebrate. Then, the then interlocutor RN Ravi declared that the Naga peace talks had concluded on October 31, 2019. But Nagas once again didn’t celebrate. The fears of many came true as these much-hyped events that took place in the past one decade too failed to materialise. Broken promises and failed past agreements have made the Nagas sceptics. Amid this growing trust gap, new interlocutor AK Mishra came to Nagaland last week and held hectic parleys with NPGs and leaders of several civil society organisations. Irrespective of the outcome of his week-long talks with stakeholders, the renewed attempt to resolve the vexed Naga political issue was like a breath of fresh air after the negotiations almost came to a standstill at one point of time. Mishra deserves praise for this. Now, he has the task of taking the negotiations forward and sealing a solution that will “last”. Meanwhile, the agreements signed with the NPGs are said to be just a preface of a comprehensive document that will contain details of the “final settlement”, or say, just a tip of the iceberg. This should be made public as well to allow the people to decide their future. The negotiating parties also shouldn’t change narratives and play with the sentiments of the people. Any settlement driven by emotions won’t last.