Ex-BSF DG Pathak appointed Naga ceasefire panel chairman

Former Director General of BSF D K Pathak was today appointed as the new chairman of the Ceasefire Monitoring Group (CMG), created in 2001 to formalise a permanent peace accord with Naga rebels.
Pathak, a 1979-batch Indian Police Service officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, retired as the Border Security Force Director General in February this year and will now operate from Nagaland's capital Kohima.
An order issued by the Union Home Ministry said the appointment will be for a year, from the date Pathak takes charge, adding he will "monitor the implementation of the agreed ground rules during the operation of ceasefire with NSCN/IM (Issac-Muivah), NSCN/KN (Khole-Kitovi) and NSCN/R (Reformation) in Nagaland."

The post was being held by Lt Gen (retd) N K Singh and his tenure came to an end on June 30. This is the first time a police officer has been appointed to the post as all past chairmen have been army officers.
The main task of the CMG chairman is to help in creation of a conducive atmosphere by talking to the stakeholders on the ground that could pave way for a successful political negotiation and bring a final end to the decades-old insurgency problem in the northeastern border state.
Sources said Pathak was chosen for the job given his experience of not only being the chief of the border guarding force which tackles insurgency of northeast groups as part of their mandate to guard the Indo-Bangla border but also owing to his knowledge of the northeast during his early service years as an IPS officer in his cadre Assam when insurgency were at their peak.

Pathak will report to the Home Ministry and will coordinate with the army, paramilitary setup operating in Nagaland along with state government authorities including the police.

In a similar development, the government today said in Parliament that Naga peace talks are "in progress".
"Subsequent to the framework signed on August 3, 2015, details are being worked out. Consultations with all the stakeholders and the state governments involved will be held before reaching the final agreement," Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha.
In a separate reply, the minister responded with a "yes" when asked whether National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K) is "behested" by neighbouring countries.

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With an aim to end the violent insurgency in Nagaland, the government in August last year had signed an accord with NSCN-IM which Prime Minister Narendra Modi described as a "historic" step to usher in peace in the state.
The agreement was signed in the presence of Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, government's interlocutor R N Ravi and the group's leader T Muivah at the PM's residence here.
The signing of the pact cane after over 80 rounds of negotiations that spanned 16 years with first breakthrough in 1997 when the ceasefire agreement was sealed.

While National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isaac-Muivah) is the largest Naga rebel group which has been maintaining the ceasefire, another faction led by S S Khaplang continues to indulge in violence and was believed to be behind the deadly attack on army in Manipur in June 2015 that left 18 soldiers dead and 18 injured.