CALCUTTA, 13 June 2005 — The much-hyped peace talks between Naga rebels and the Indian government to end a bloody revolt have virtually collapsed because of New Delhi’s refusal to redraw provincial borders in the troubled northeast.
Intelligence officials fear the breakdown of the talks will stoke the embers of violence. They said that separatist guerrillas will go on the rampage particularly after July 31 when the eight-year-long cease-fire between Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland and Indian security forces expires.
Nagaland, where more than 25,000 people have lost their lives to insurgency since India’s independence from Britain in 1947, is a majority Christian state of 3.5 million.
On Saturday, NSCN General Secretary Thuningaleng Muivah said that he is so disappointed with the lack of progress in peace talks with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister Shivraj Patil that he is returning to Amsterdam on June 24.
Significantly, NSCN Chairman Isak Swu who flew to Amsterdam in February for medical treatment did not return to New Delhi because of the slow pace of negotiations with federal government’s representatives.
Swu and Muivah came to New Delhi in December at Manmohan’s invitation to push forward the peace process. But talks with Manmohan and Patil to end India’s longest-running insurgency have come a cropper.
“We cannot say that any significant progress has been made in all these months. We cannot go on staying in New Delhi for ever. Our sincerity to find a solution should not be exploited”, said Muivah.
“Indian negotiators made no attempts to overcome the obstacles in the way of a settlement — defining the relationship between the Nagas and New Delhi and the unification of Naga-majority areas for our homeland”, he added.
“Without resolving these issues, what kind of solution does New Delhi expect?” he asked angrily. The biggest reason for the deadlock is New Delhi’s refusal to merge all northeastern areas inhabited by the Naga people to create a homeland. NSCN leaders say that the government promised them a homeland but did not keep its word.
