The Farce of Talks

What has New Delhi achieved in 60 rounds of talks with the Naga insurgent group NSCN-IM?

On an extremely foggy January night in 2002, a plane landed at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport. With it also landed a hope that finally peace could be achieved in Nagaland, where the insurgency movement is as old as the formation of India itself. For decades, thousands of Naga youth had been fighting a bloody war against the Indian State. Led by their leaders Thuingaleng Muivah and Isak Chisi Swu—founders of insurgent group National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM)—the group had agreed to a ceasefire with the Centre in 1997. Muivah and Swu had been living in exile for years, in places like Bangkok and Amsterdam, from where they controlled their militant group. Now, after more than three decades, the two leaders were to set foot on Indian soil to begin talks with New Delhi. 

There was optimism in the air. At the airport on that foggy January night, hundreds of Naga youth dressed in traditional attire gathered to welcome their leaders. The talks began immediately. 

But, today, eight years and more than 60 rounds of talks later, the NSCN-IM and New Delhi are far from reaching an agreement. As part of the ceasefire terms, most of the NSCN-IM cadres stay in Camp Hebron in Dimapur, Nagaland, but it is clear that in many parts including the Naga-inhabited areas of neighbouring Manipur state, it is the writ of the rebels that runs larger than the Centre’s or the state governments’. It is from these areas that Naga rebels extort money and generate a revenue of around Rs 250 crore annually, according to some estimates.

Since the talks began, interlocutors have changed as well. The dialogue is continuing, says the Government, but it is clear that Muivah and his men are getting restless and impatient. Muivah is in Delhi currently and has met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister P Chidambaram. “Talks are being held in a cordial atmosphere,” says the new Government-appointed interlocutor RS Pandey. He may be optimistic, but ask Manipuris who have had to bear the brunt of the Home Ministry’s adhocism over dealing with Naga leaders. In June, Muivah was granted permission to visit his ancestral village in Manipur’s hill district of Ukhrul. But Manipur Chief Minister Ibobi Singh denied him permission because of Manipuri sentiment against the visit. Irked, angry Nagas blocked two crucial national highways to Manipur for 68 days, which led to a severe crisis.

Now, the Naga groups have imposed another blockade of 20 days beginning 4 August. On its part, the NSCN-IM expressed helplessness over the matter. “It has been announced by Naga society, and it is not something we can control,” says a senior NSCN-IM functionary. As of now, Muivah is not issuing any statement or commenting otherwise on the future of talks. “There is nothing to tell you right now,” his political secretary Phumseng Muivah tells Open. But sources say the economic blockade is a signal to New Delhi that the insurgent leadership is not happy with the progress of talks. In the past, Muivah has on several occasions accused New Delhi of not being serious about talks.

At the heart of the matter lies the Naga demand for ‘Greater Nagaland’—the inclusion of Naga-dominated areas of neighbouring states of Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh in Nagaland. But Muivah categorically states that there is nothing called Greater Nagaland and that Nagaland is just Nagaland. “How about Ukhrul?” this correspondent asked Muivah in 2002, after his talks with the then Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee. “Of course, that is Nagaland,” he had replied without a moment’s hesitation.

Reeling under pressure because of the serious situation in Kashmir and the problems it is facing in Naxal-affected areas, the Government is hoping that the Naga issue gets diffused, at least for now. ‘The centre has urged the United Naga Council not to resort to an economic blockade of Manipur and participate in the next round of talks. The appeal is in view of the hardship that would be caused to common people,’ a Home Ministry statement said a day before the economic blockade was to begin. But the blockade has been enforced despite this.

The last thing the Centre would want right now is that talks with Naga groups get derailed. That is why it is treading with extreme caution over the issue. “The dialogue with the NSCN-IM is continuing. The details in this regard cannot be disclosed as negotiations are still underway,” Minister of State for Home Mullapally Ramachandran said in Lok Sabha recently.

Home Ministry sources say that in all rounds of talks with Muivah so far, the Centre has played on its ‘extreme helplesness’ over conceding the demand of Greater Nagaland. But NSCN-IM leaders are not willing to give up that demand. In the past, Muivah had said that he “understood the constraints in a parliamentary democracy”, but hasn’t expressed any willingness to compromise on this issue.

Meanwhile, Manipur is still reeling under acute shortage of food, drugs and other essential items because of a boycott call given by operators of tankers and other freight trucks on the issue of extortion by various insurgent groups, including the NSCN-IM. Manipur Chief Minister Ibobi Singh sounded a reconciliatory note by saying that blockades can never be a solution. But it is clear that it has not worked at all.

economic blockadeNagalandpeace talks