FNR wants implementation of Naga Concordant, formation of one National Govt by political groups

April 4, 2018 845 Views No Comment

Naga Republic News

After a prolonged silence since the signing of the Framework Agreement between the Government of India and the NSCN (IM), the Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR) has come out with a communiqué urging for the implementation of the ‘Naga Concordant’ which the top Naga Political Groups had signed on August 26, 2011.

It may be mentioned that the center piece agreement in the ‘Naga Concordant’, mediated by the FNR, was for the different armed groups to work towards the formation of one Naga National Government.

In this file photo the Convenor of the Forum for Naga Reconciliation, Rev Dr Wati Aier, is seen here presiding over the High Level Reconciliation meeting on August 26, 2011 at Dimapur. On the concluding day of the 5-day Reconciliation meeting, the Naga leaders resolved in principle to work towards the formation of one Naga National Government.

Pointing out that the “incomplete consummation of the Naga Concordant has had its due share of criticism from many quarters, including the general public”, the FNR in a statement issued on April 4 urged “the Naga leaders and the Naga public to reconnect and tap into the vast potentials offered in the Naga Concordant”.

Signed by top Naga leaders Mr. Th Muivah, the Late Mr. Isak Chishi Swu, Brigadier (Retired) S. Singnya, Mr. Zhopra Vero, General (Retired) Khole Konyak, and Mr. N. Kitovi Zhimomi, the ‘Naga Concordant’ had “resolved in principle to work towards the formation of one Naga National Government”.

To ensure the realization of the Naga National Government, the Naga Concordant had even taken the step to form a High Level Commission (HLC) comprising of the signatories, headed by the Chairman/President or the General Secretary/Vice President, and having no less than four competent members in the ranks of Kilonser/Major General and above, as found deemed fit by the respective governments.

Further according to the Naga Concordant, in order to expedite this process of eventually forming the Naga National Government, the HLC was to hold meetings without any further delay in the presence of the Forum for Naga Reconciliation as facilitators. However till date the signatories have been unable to fulfill what was agreed upon in the Naga Concordant.

“The truth is that the Naga Concordant has not been fulfilled and, logically, we have not kept our commitment to the Nagas. And, thus today, we remain in an unresolved state”, the FNR stated in its communiqué.

The FNR also made a mention of the Covenant of Reconciliation (COR), signed by the late Mr. Isak Chishi Swu, Brigadier (Retired) S. Singnya, and the late Mr. S.S. Khaplang on June 13, 2009 and pointing out that this covenant had “brought decades of factional violence and killings and witch hunts to an end” and that the Covenant of Reconciliation is “honored to this day”.

While the latest appeal from the FNR comes against the backdrop of the Government of India working to solve the Naga issue in the next few months, the FNR has not publicly stated the reason/s for the failure in implementing the Naga Concordant.

To refresh public memory, following the signing of the Naga Concordant on August 26, 2011, another agreement was signed on March 2014 following two days of closed door meeting between top Naga leaders facilitated by the FNR. Called the ‘Lenten Agreement’, the same set of signatories had reiterated “to the formation of Naga National Government”.

While the Lenten Agreement stated that the commitment to form the Naga National Government was “a process”, it was agreed upon that “this task should begin at the earliest and be completed without delay”. As mentioned the Lenten Agreement was signed on March 2014.

The one key difference between the Naga Concordant and the Lenten Agreement was that in the former the High Level Commission of the Naga Political Groups was to hold meetings “in the presence of the FNR as facilitators” while in the Lenten Agreement, the signatories had put an additional clause requesting “the FNR to work out the modalities to expedite the process” of forming the Naga National Government.

No progress was made either with regard to the High Level Commission of the Naga Political Groups as mandated by the Naga Concordant or the proposed ‘modalities’ that the FNR was supposed to work on as per the Lenten Agreement.

Click on the full text of FNR statement