Guwahati, Jan. 9: The NSCN (I-M) today said it has not given up its demand for “self-determination” and its decision to hold “unconditional talks” in an “accommodative spirit” did not mean it has agreed to talks within the framework of the Constitution. “By an accommodative spirit, we mean that our efforts will be to find a solution that is honourable and acceptable to both sides,” NSCN (I-M) deputy kilonser V. Horam told The Telegraph over telephone from Dimapur.
He further stated it would be wrong to attach a “political connotation” to the fact that its leaders — Isak Chisi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah — agreed to come to New Delhi on Indian travel documents.
He was reacting to the remark by the Centre’s interlocutor K. Padmanabhaiah in New Delhi yesterday that the very fact that the two Naga militant leaders were travelling on Indian travel documents itself was an indication of the trend.
He said Padmanabhaiah’s remark has an “undertone that we have given up our demand for self-determination.”
He added that the “collective leadership” has agreed to visit New Delhi on Indian passports to facilitate the peace process.
The Amsterdam-based Naga International Support Center (NISC), too, said the stand on self-determination had not been abandoned. “The Naga movement has not given up its right to decide its own future. That is the history of the Nagas and they all stand for it,” the NISC said in a statement.
The National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang) today said the Centre knows well that its rival — the Isak-Muivah faction — was not the sole representative of the Nagas.
Claiming that the Nagas’ real cause was “sovereignty”, the NSCN (K) termed the proposed talks between the Centre and the NSCN (I-M) a “farce”, our Imphal correspondent adds. The statement was issued by “Maj.” Hriipunii Pou of the NSCN (K).