After 6 decades, govt signs pact with Naga group

The government on Monday signed a major peace deal with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah) in the presence of Thuingaleng Muivah, months after the rival Naga group led by S S Khaplang murdered 18 Indian Army soldiers in Manipur in June. Although the terms of the Naga Accord are not yet public, (because Parliament is in session) the accord has been timed to divert attention from the denouement in Parliament and focus on an internal policy triumph.

The peace treaty was signed in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at 7, Race Course Road. Home Minister Rajnath Singh and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval were among those present on the occasion.

Thuingaleng Muivah signed the peace accord with the Indian government on behalf of the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah). "I thank god for this momentous occasion," said T Muivah, after signing the agreement. "Under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi, we have come close to understanding each other and worked out a new relationship between the two parties," T Muivah said further. "Let me assure you that Nagas can be trustworthy," he added.

When the legendary leader of the Naga Hill Districts, Zaphu Phizo, in 1956, declared his federal independent sovereign government as the "de facto government", war between India and Nagaland was inevitable. When leaders of the Phizo group signed the Shillong Peace Accord with the government in 1975, war between the groups was inevitable. At that time, the two younger associates of Phizo - Isak Chisi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah -were in China, buying arms. When they returned, they denounced the "sellout" by the Phizo group. The Nagaland National Socialist Council (NSCN) was created in Burma in 1980 with the aim of fighting for an independent country of Nagaland.

The leadership of the NSCN at that time, more or less, reflected the dominant tribe mosaic of Nagaland. S S Khaplang, belonging to the Burmese Homi tribe, was an NSCN colleague and Muivah was a Tangkhul Naga from Manipur. Inter-tribal suspicions in Nagaland are deep. In 1988, Khaplang invited Muivah and his boys to dinner but ambushed them, resulting in wiping out many of Muivah's military advisors, including members of the family. Muivah's group retaliated. The movement split between the NSCN (Isak-Muivah) and NSCN (Khaplang).