With no signs of a Naga peace deal fructifying immediately, the Centre on Friday extended the ceasefire agreement with the most potent insurgent groups operating the northeast. The home ministry signed another one-year extension in the ceasefire pact with NSCN NK and National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Reformation). The extension was signed from the ministry of home affairs, signed by the joint secretary in-charge of the northeast division.
The core demand of the Nagas has been for a separate Nagalim, comprising not only the hill districts of Manipur, but parts of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh as well. This, besides, control over large swathes of land in Myanmar.
With BJP governments in power in all the three northeastern states, there has been increased hope of the Naga peace deal, bringing a lasting solution to the decades-old insurgency.
Recently, Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio (the NDPP, in alliance with BJP, came to power last month) claimed that the Naga peace accord is in the final stages of deliberation, and issues pertaining to Naga “autonomy” have been resolved .
While government sources said “shared sovereignty” is on the cards whenever the final peace deal is inked, the bigger problem the government-appointed interlocutor R.K. Ravi and home ministry is facing is to bring all Naga groups on board, including NSCN KN and NSCN(R). This gains increased significance from the security point of view as any resentment in different factions of NSCN and other Naga insurgent groups could spell security trouble for the government if it goes ahead with the peace deal without ensuring all are on board.
The framework agreement signed by the Centre in 2015 was only with NSCN (IM) and not the other factions, which had irked them. The KN faction has been asserting that it is ready to talk to the government and become part of the peace process, if government approaches it formally to address its concerns and demands. Whether the government is able to achieve Naga unity to ink a peace deal remains to be seen in the next 12 months as the BJP government at the Centre inches towards the last year of its present mandate with general elections due in 2019.