UKHRUL: The Working Committee (WC) of the Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs) has demanded that the political agreements agreed to by the Government of India (GoI) and the Naga be implemented without any dilution or suspension of Article 371(A) which could have serious political implications for Nagaland and the Naga people.
In a statement made by the WC, NNPGs referred to the political discussions that took place in 2017-19 with the then GoI Interlocutor and the current Governor of West Bengal R.N. Ravi, which focussed on the notion of an “inclusive India” and the distinct history, identity, and political status of the Naga people.
The committee reported that the negotiations were held with “reciprocal high regard” between the GoI representatives and the Naga representatives, who took their history, identity, culture and ancestral land to the negotiating table.
In its address, NNPGs said a political solution was possible only if the historical and political position of both sides is accepted and the two entities coexist in India in a federal constitutional framework “with mutual respect”.
The committee claimed that the negotiations had been successfully concluded and were awaiting a formal announcement by the GoI. It said the outcome could address what it described as discrepancies between the constitutional framework and its implementation on the ground, particularly concerning Article 371(A).
The WC, NNPGs maintained that political agreements reached between the GoI and Naga groups, both historically and in recent years, must be respected and implemented, arguing that such agreements represent commitments extending across generations.
It also asserted that the problem should be solved in a political way instead of judicial and administrative, and said that political matters can only be solved by political negotiations which must be respected by the judicial and administrative bodies of the Union government.
The committee, on natural resources, has said that Article 371(A) would not give political leaders a license to pave the way for the exploitation of the resources of the people. It argued that exploration and extraction of natural resources such as strategic minerals and rare earth elements must be done in the interests of future generations.
WC said that in principle, it had agreed a framework with the GoI to govern the use of natural resources, both surface and sub-surface, for the benefit of the community. It said that it would stand against any move to challenge the “Agreed Position and Status Paper” agreed by the two sides.
The committee also urged the GoI to prevent what it termed “political thugs” from acting against the spirit of the agreed political framework through what it described as “petty MOUs”.
The statement called Article 371(A) as the only link between the Union of India and the Naga people, and stated that it was in the Union’s interest to keep the provision in place as it would, in its opinion, ‘restore Nagaland to the pre-statehood political status’.
In such an eventuality, the committee claimed that Nagaland and the Naga people would have the right to invoke what it described as the spirit of January 10, 1929, August 14, 1947 and May 16, 1951 which are dates associated with key milestones in Naga political history.
In this regard the WC, NNPGs also remembered the Framework Agreement signed on 3rd August 2015 between the GoI and NSCN (IM) and the Agreed Position signed with GoI and WC, NNPGs on 17th November 2017 which, if not implemented, would further aggravate the historical injustice being meted out on the Naga people.
It had appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union home minister Amit Shah to sense the concerns of the grassroot citizens and claimed that state authorities, bureaucrats and security agencies had allowed anti-solution elements to grow while the common people wait for an “honourable and acceptable political solution”.
Speaking on the bigger issues of political identity of India, the WC invoked the vision of inclusive and tolerant India with secularism as its core, that of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar vallabhbhai Patel, Subhash Chandra Bose and B.R. Ambedkar.
The committee also reminded Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of the “Idea of India” and warned that the demand for a “Hindu Rashtra” should not dilute the basic tenet of the constitution which is “unity in diversity”.
The committee stated that India is a garden of all flowers and people of various faiths, cultures, beliefs and social practices are all Indians.
It also concluded that political polarization in India must be handled by means of recognition and negotiated political mechanisms instead of protracted political uncertainty.
As a first step of confidence building, the Indo-Naga political skirmish, which has been dragging on for many years, would prove its history and identity to be respected and recognised to its “other India”, the NNPGs said.
