10-23-2006, 06:59 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Amsterdam talks fail, Isaac-Muivah faction insists on self-governance </b>
Pioneer.com
Syed Zarir Hussain | DimapurÂÂ
Peace dialogue between Indian peace negotiators and a dominant tribal separatist group in the Northeast held at Amsterdam failed with New Delhi rejecting the demands for self-governance, a rebel leader said on Sunday.
<b>A Group of Ministers led by Oscar Fernandes and New Delhi's peace interlocutor K Padmanabhaiah ended three days of marathon talks on Thursday with top leaders of the Isaac-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM), the main rebel group in State of Nagaland </b>.
"The Government has failed to make their point explicitly clear on our demand for a special federal arrangement that allows us self-governance. Such insensitivity by New Delhi will jeopardise future peace initiatives," NSCN-IM spokesman Kraibo Chawang said after the meeting.
The NSCN-IM, led by guerrilla leaders Isaac Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah, have a proposed "a special federal arrangement" which enables the Nagas to govern themselves.
There has been no official statement made by New Delhi after the collapse of the talks in Amsterdam.
<b>"We want a special federal relationship with India where we have a separate Naga Constitution. It should be a federation of India and Nagalim (Greater Nagaland) although we would allow the international borders to be jointly guarded by Indian security forces and our soldiers so as not to jeopardise the security interests of India," </b>Chawang said.
"Nothing concrete has materialised in the Amsterdam talks and we are disappointed."
Nagaland shares a long unfenced border with Myanmar. The NSCN-IM have been struggling for nearly six decades to create a 'Greater Nagaland' by slicing off parts of three neighbouring States to unite 1.2 million Nagas. The demand is strongly opposed by the States of Assam, Manipur, and Arunachal Pradesh.
The NSCN-IM and New Delhi entered into a ceasefire in August 1997 which has been renewed regularly. The present ceasefire expires in June 2007.
"The Government of India is trying to tire out the Nagas by dragging the peace process. It is more than nine years and the Government does not have any clear agenda to solve the problem," the rebel leader of the Naga group said, adding, "The Nagas are getting restless by the day."
The Indian Government and the NSCN-IM have held more than 50 rounds of talks in the past nine years to end one of South Asia's longest-running insurgencies that has claimed around 25,000 lives since Independence in 19
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Pioneer.com
Syed Zarir Hussain | DimapurÂÂ
Peace dialogue between Indian peace negotiators and a dominant tribal separatist group in the Northeast held at Amsterdam failed with New Delhi rejecting the demands for self-governance, a rebel leader said on Sunday.
<b>A Group of Ministers led by Oscar Fernandes and New Delhi's peace interlocutor K Padmanabhaiah ended three days of marathon talks on Thursday with top leaders of the Isaac-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM), the main rebel group in State of Nagaland </b>.
"The Government has failed to make their point explicitly clear on our demand for a special federal arrangement that allows us self-governance. Such insensitivity by New Delhi will jeopardise future peace initiatives," NSCN-IM spokesman Kraibo Chawang said after the meeting.
The NSCN-IM, led by guerrilla leaders Isaac Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah, have a proposed "a special federal arrangement" which enables the Nagas to govern themselves.
There has been no official statement made by New Delhi after the collapse of the talks in Amsterdam.
<b>"We want a special federal relationship with India where we have a separate Naga Constitution. It should be a federation of India and Nagalim (Greater Nagaland) although we would allow the international borders to be jointly guarded by Indian security forces and our soldiers so as not to jeopardise the security interests of India," </b>Chawang said.
"Nothing concrete has materialised in the Amsterdam talks and we are disappointed."
Nagaland shares a long unfenced border with Myanmar. The NSCN-IM have been struggling for nearly six decades to create a 'Greater Nagaland' by slicing off parts of three neighbouring States to unite 1.2 million Nagas. The demand is strongly opposed by the States of Assam, Manipur, and Arunachal Pradesh.
The NSCN-IM and New Delhi entered into a ceasefire in August 1997 which has been renewed regularly. The present ceasefire expires in June 2007.
"The Government of India is trying to tire out the Nagas by dragging the peace process. It is more than nine years and the Government does not have any clear agenda to solve the problem," the rebel leader of the Naga group said, adding, "The Nagas are getting restless by the day."
The Indian Government and the NSCN-IM have held more than 50 rounds of talks in the past nine years to end one of South Asia's longest-running insurgencies that has claimed around 25,000 lives since Independence in 19
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->