Report: Interlocutor’s letter ended Nagaland poll impasse, says new Assembly won’t scuttle final pact

February 12, 2018 396 Views No Comment

Naga Republic News

A report carried in The Hindu newspaper on February 11 has disclosed about a letter written by the Government of India’s Interlocutor RN Ravi to the Naga political groups, including the NSCN (IM) where assurance was given to the Naga groups that the new Nagaland Assembly would not come in the way of the final agreement. The report in The Hindu claims that it was this letter from RN Ravi that ended the poll impasse in Nagaland.

‘New Assembly won’t scuttle final pact’

‘Elections to be held afresh if deal signed in next two-three months’

Top source: ‘Deal almost done, NSCN (IM) pulls out at last moment’

“A letter written by the Centre’s interlocutor R.N. Ravi to the Naga groups, including the NSCN (Isak-Muivah), on February 3 helped to end the impasse over the Nagaland Assembly elections. Civil society groups and the NSCN (I-M) had called a boycott of the elections till a political solution was reached. In the letter seen by The Hindu, Mr. Ravi assured the groups that the new Assembly would not come in the way of the final agreement. Following this, they withdrew the call”, states the news report.

Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju, who is also the BJP’s in charge for the Nagaland elections, told The Hindu that the election process could be set in motion by “extensive lobbying and manoeuvring.” “Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Mr. Ravi played a key role in bringing the parties concerned on board,” he said.

A top source has also told The Hindu that the Union government and the NSCN (I-M) had almost sealed the final agreement a day before the Election Commission announced the schedule, but the outfit pulled out at the last moment. “Since a compromise on the territorial integrity is out of the question, the outfit was offered a socio-political body like the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee. After agreeing to the terms, the outfit refused to sign the final agreement, leading to the impasse,” a senior official said.

Another disclosure as per the report of The Hindu, mentions that the Centre has assured the groups that the Assembly will be dissolved as and when the agreement is signed. “They had apprehensions that the elections would delay the final peace agreement because a newly elected Assembly cannot be dissolved. We assured them that if a deal was signed in the next two-three months, the elections would be held afresh,” the official said.

An official said the talks were delayed by the death last year of Isak Swu, one of the leaders of the NSCN (IM), The Hindu report states. The official also said that “the final accord was ready and the Centre proposed an auxiliary battalion for the NSCN (IM) cadre living in a camp at Hebron” and that “they would also be asked to lay down their weapons.