Towards talks

Signals show that the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isaac-Muivah) may be moving towards talks with the Central government.

THE leaders of the outlawed National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isaac-Muivah), Isaac Swu and Th. Muivah, who have been living in exile in Bangkok for several years, are reported to have responded positively to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's invitation to visit India and hold peace talks with the Central government. Vajpayee made the offer when he met them at Osaka in Japan on December 8, 2001. Observers feel that it was in such a background that the Naga rebels who abducted the Deputy Commissioner (D.C.) of Manipur's Chandel district, Yambem Thamkishwor, on March 18 agreed to his unconditional release after holding him hostage for 12 days.

Members of the NSCN(I-M) and its ally, the United Kuki Liberation Front (UKLF), abducted the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer from the forest gate near his residence at Chandel after waylaying his convoy and overpowering his escorts. Apparently, the abduction was in retaliation for the killing of 11 NSCN (I-M) members in an encounter with the Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) at Pallel on March 16. The Naga abductors wanted the weapons and ammunition - which included four AK-47 rifles, three self-loading rifles, a U.S.-made carbine, a sten carbine, two hand grenades, and several rounds of live cartridges - and radio sets seized from the killed militants to be returned for Thamkishwor's release.

Manipur's newly elected Congress(I) Chief Minister, Okram Ibobi, who was determined not to bow down to the NSCN's demands, asked the Centre to take action against the militants. Isaac Swu and Th. Muivah were reportedly contacted by the Centre's principal interlocutor in the peace talks, former Union Home Secretary K. Padmanabhaiah, and told that if the D.C. was not released, the peace process would collapse. The unconditional release of Yambem Thamkishwor indicates that the NSCN(I-M) does not want to test further the patience of the Indian government.

As the present ceasefire agreement between the Centre and the NSCN(I-M) has been in force only within the "territorial limit of Nagaland" since August 1997, NSCN(I-M) militants had shifted their activity to the Naga-dominated areas in the neighbouring States of Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. The encounter at Pallel was preceded by a clash between the NSCN(I-M) and its rival Naga faction, the NSCN (Khaplang), at Sachin village in Arunachal Pradesh, also close to Nagaland. Sources in Changlang, one of the two districts in Arunachal Pradesh that have a considerable presence of Naga militants, said that the four-hour clash caused the residents of the village to flee their homes. The NSCN(I-M) was at it again on March 17, making an attempt to blow up a wireless centre at Mahadevpur Till in the North Cachar Hills of Assam. Policemen deployed at the centre forced the rebels to retreat after a half-hour-long gun battle. Later, three Naga militants of the NSCN(I-M) were arrested while trying to cross over to Tripura from the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh.

The Pallel encounter was the first such incident in Manipur since President's Rule was revoked and a Congress(I)-led Secular Progressive Force (SPF) government took over on March 7. The heavily armed Naga rebels were heading towards Imphal in a hijacked truck when an IRB patrol team tried to stop the vehicle near the Molnoi outpost at Pallel. The militants opened fire, leading to an exchange of fire that continued for 30 minutes.

IN an interview to the Amsterdam-based Naga International Support Centre (NISC), NSCN(I-M) chairman Th. Muivah said the Government of India must apologise for the killing of the 11 "soldiers" of the "Naga Army" and return the weapons seized from them. Muivah said: "It was unwise on the part of the government to attack our cadres while the peace talks were in full swing. It shows that the Government of India is never sincere. The Nagas have no faith in the endless promises of the government." He said Nagas had been provoked to take action, apparently referring to Thamkishwor's kidnapping.

Meanwhile, the Manipur Chief Minister admitted that his government was in a delicate situation. "Saving the D.C.'s life is the government's top priority. But at the same time, people will accuse us of surrendering to the NSCN(I-M) if the weapons are returned," he said. Accusing the Centre of inaction, Okram Ibobi said that the State government was seeking Central intervention from Day One as the NSCN(I-M) was holding peace talks with the Centre. He said that the Centre had not acted upon the State's request to send an official to Manipur to resolve the hostage crisis. He said Union Home Minister L.K. Advani was not averse to the weapons being returned. "But we wanted a written directive from the Home Ministry as the State could not act on the basis of verbal communications. Moreover, as the weapons were now in the purview of the court, my government could not take any decision on it," Idobi said.

Apprehending bloody counteraction, the Ibobi government took a soft line regarding the rescue of the abducted officer. Political leaders, social workers and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) based in Chandel district had advised the administration not to use force because an offensive by the security forces could send the wrong signals to the abductors. Two Naga MLAs, one from the Congress(I) and another from the Bharatiya Janata Party, were entrusted with the task of negotiating with the abductors. Leaders of seven Naga tribes in Chandel made an appeal to the NSCN(I-M) and the Kuki rebels to free the D.C. However, the Chief Minister announced that his government would not hesitate to use force if the ultras refused to free Thamkishwor.

The killings of the Naga militants and the abduction of the D.C. came at a time when the NSCN(I-M) was about to accept Vajpayee's offer to conduct peace talks in India. "The invitation we have received from the Prime Minister of India to speed up the search for the way to an honourable solution to the Indo-Naga issue is, we think, a good gesture," the NSCN(I-M) said in a statement released in Kohima.

The four-and-a-half-year-old had received a boost with Vajpayee meeting the NSCN(I-M) leaders. According to Naga leaders, the meeting was the need of the hour especially after the agreement reached between Padmanabhaiah and Muivah in Bangkok on June 14, 2001, had run into trouble. The Bangkok agreement, which brought Nagaland and all Naga-dominated areas of its neighbouring States under the purview of the ceasefire, was strongly opposed by Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam (Frontline, July 20, 2001).

About their visit to Delhi to continue the peace talks, Isaac and Muivah are reported to have told Vajpayee that it was he who had to remove the obstacles, like the arrest warrants against them, standing in the way of their visit. Moreover, they pointed out that their organisation was a banned one in the country. "We have no problem to visit India, particularly when Vajpayee himself has invited us and expressed his sincere desire to settle the Naga issue. What we need is a congenial atmosphere for talks and negotiations," they said.

Meanwhile, Nagaland Chief Minister S.C. Jamir declared that his government was ready to revoke the arrest warrants against Isaac and Muivah to facilitate their visit to the State.