Still on the boil

Published : Aug 18, 2001 00:00 IST

With the leading Naga group threatening to pull out of the June 14 agreement in protest against the decision to restrict the ceasefire accord to Nagaland alone as demanded by Manipur groups, the Union government finds itself in a fix.

THE threat of renewed violence in the northeastern region has shifted from Manipur to Nagaland with the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isaac-Muivah) rejecting the Central government's decision to restrict the ceasefire to Nagaland. The group has threatened to pull out of the agreement it signed with the government on June 14 in Bangkok. The agreement, which extended the ceasefire to all Naga-inhabited areas beyond Nagaland, sparked large-scale violence in Manipur in which 17 people were killed. Manipur, now under President's Rule, remained under curfew for a month from June 16.

On July 27, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee announced at a meeting of the Chief Ministers of the seven northeastern States that the Bangkok agreement to enforce the ceasefire in areas beyond Nagaland had been revoked, and that the words "without territorial limits" would be deleted from the agreement to restore the status quo ante. Immediately, the NSCN(I-M) leaders in exile, Thiuangaleng Muivah and Isaac Chisi Swu, issued a statement from Amsterdam saying that the government had backtracked on the June 14 agreement and that the decision to restrict the ceasefire to Nagaland was unacceptable to them. They denied Union Home Minister L.K. Advani's statement that they had agreed to the government's proposal after their talks with the latter's interlocutor, former Home Secretary K. Padmanabhaiah, in Amsterdam on July 23 and 24. Padmanabhaiah flew to Amsterdam as the situation in Manipur became alarming in the wake of the agreement, with protesters demanding that the ceasefire be confined to Nagaland. The geographical extension of the ceasefire drew protests from people in Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh as they feared that the NSCN(I-M) would use the clause "without territorial limits" to legitimise its demand for a "Greater Nagaland". Padmanabhaiah's mission was to get the NSCN(I-M) leadership to agree to reducing the area of operation of the agreement to the original territorial limits of Nagaland.

Barely a few hours after he landed in Amsterdam, the NSCN(I-M) leaders made it clear that if the Bangkok agreement was "even touched", they would be forced to call off the ceasefire. The collective leadership of the NSCN(I-M), said in a statement that no final decision had been taken to review the agreement at the talks with Padmanabhaiah, clearly contradicting the Centre's announcement. The statement said: "It was understood that the implementation of the ceasefire, especially the necessity of keeping the rampant activities of all the Indian armed forces under effective control, was first and foremost before any decision is arrived at. This is the truth and the whole truth of the talks and so there is no point on the part of the Indian government to make any announcement beyond this understanding. Therefore, any announcement, declaration or statement made by the Home Ministry is unfounded and in no way acceptable to Nagas."

Advani is understood to have pulled up Padmanabhaiah for giving the impression that Muivah would agree to a revision of the Bangkok agreement.

But the damage had already been done. Protest rallies and bandhs in Dimapur, the biggest town in Nagaland, and the capital Kohima followed the Centre's declaration. It took a while for the Nagas to come to terms with Advani's remarks.

The situation in Nagaland is changing fast. The NSCN(I-M) is closing ranks and mobilising cadres in the Naga-dominated hill districts of Tamenglong, Ukhrul, Chandel and Senapati in Manipur. Informed sources said that V.S. Atem, former "chief of staff" of the underground Naga Army, has been visiting Naga-inhabited areas of Manipur. In Dimapur and Kohima, the NSCN(I-M) ceasefire monitoring cell is buzzing with activity. The convener of the cell, Phung Thing Shimrang, told Frontline that the steering committee of the NSCN(I-M) had held a series of meetings after the last round of talks between Isaac and Muivah and Padmanabhaiah. He said: "Even if we consider Advani's statement that the words 'without territorial limits' would be deleted, we take it that the Home Minister has not said that the ceasefire would be specifically restricted to the State of Nagaland. For us, our territorial limits extend to all Naga dominated areas in Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh."

The security forces fear that the latest development may spark another round of turmoil in the region following a renewed offensive by the banned NSCN(I-M) in the States adjoining Nagaland. Tension has already begun to mount, with Nagas in Manipur blocking highways, enforcing general strikes and taking out torchlight rallies to register their protest. Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur have sounded a high alert to counter any mischief by the NSCN(I-M) cadres. A senior Assam government official said: "The militants may try to carry out some operations in order to prove that limiting the ceasefire to Nagaland will not serve any purpose since the Naga militants' areas of influence extend beyond the boundaries of Nagaland."

Intelligence sources in Imphal said: "We have received inputs about movement of NSCN(I-M) cadres in some Naga-dominated hill districts of Manipur. We are keeping a close watch and the intelligence machinery has been geared up. Of particular concern is traffic along National Highways 39 and 53, which pass through these hill districts."

Five Naga organisations of Manipur and the powerful Naga Students' Federation have resolved to fight the Centre's "unilateral" decision and said that if New Delhi understands only the language of violence, then the Nagas would take that path. The Naga Youth Front organised a 36-hour blockade of the two highways in Manipur from July 26. Nagas in Manipur's hill districts observed a 48-hour general strike in the first week of August, virtually paralysing life in an area of 15,000 sq km inhabited by Nagas.

Nagaland Chief Minister S.C. Jamir told Frontline that the Centre had from the outset mishandled the ceasefire issue. Jamir, who did not know what had transpired between Padmanabhaiah and the NSCN(I-M) leaders, sought from the Centre details of the meeting. "It is the government's responsibility to tell the people which is the correct voice, the NSCN(I-M)'s or the government's," he said.

Jamir said the insurgency problem ought to be treated as a national one since various insurgent groups operating in the region demanded secession. The August 5 incident in Assam's Bongaigaon district, in which eight Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel and two civilians were killed, was part of the violence perpetrated by the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) to highlight its demand for a "sovereign Bodoland", he pointed out.

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