Aug 05 2015 : The Economic Times (Delhi)

Another Step in a Naga March to Peace





It is welcome that New Delhi has signed a peace accord with a major faction of Naga insurgency that has been active since August 1947. While the exact contours of the agreement are yet not known, forcing major leaders in the states neighbouring Nagaland to hold their judgement rather than join the celebrations underway at the Centre, some principles that underlie the pact are welcome. One is a fair degree of autonomy for the Nagas in and outside the state of Nagaland (the Greater Nagalim claimed by the Naga insurgency is more than seven times as large as Nagaland itself, and includes parts of Myanmar, besides of Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam).Another is exercise of this autonomy without breaking up existing states. Autonomous regions within a state are a common feature in the northeast. The readiness of the Nagas to accept this principle and of the government at the Centre to grant it holds out promise, for future demands for autonomy in other parts of the country . A third welcome feature of the accord is the non partisan continuity of policy on the part of the government of India that sees the fruition of efforts overseen by prime ministers P V Narasimha Rao, H D Deve Gowda, A B Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh. Yet, all this does not quite guarantee peace.
The Kaplang faction of the Naga insurgency is not on board, as are not an alphabet soup of other militant groups in the region. The areas of autonomy granted to Nagas include those where Kukis live and any arrangement that subordinates them to the Nagas will invite grim resistance. Unlike Rajiv Gandhi's Assam accord or the peace deal with Laldenga ending the Mizo rebellion, the present accord does not have a single, wholly representative champion of the rebellion as a party. Risks remain, in other words.