The Hindu : A good beginning has been made, says Muivah

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 10, 2003

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A good beginning has been made, says Muivah

By Anjali Mody

The Naga leaders, Isak Chishi Swu (left) and Th. Muivah, paying homage at Rajghat in New Delhi on Thursday — Photo: Anu Pushkarna

NEW DELHI JAN. 9. The meeting of the leaders of the Naga secessionist movement, Isak Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah, and the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, ended on a positive note with the NSCN (I-M) chairman, Mr. Swu, describing the approach of both sides as "mature" and "realistic". The Prime Minister and the leadership of India, he said were "very sincere" in finding a solution to the Naga problem.

Speaking to the media outside the Prime Minister's residence after the 40 minute-long meeting, Mr. Swu declined to discuss the details of the talks, which he described as "cordial and friendly". Asked what the core issue of the negotiations was, he said it was "to find a solution through peaceful means".

The meeting of the Naga with the Prime Minister is the first of its kind in 36 years and is being flagged as a milestone towards finding a solution to the longest secessionist movement that India has seen. Apart from Mr. Swu and Mr. Muivah, the Government's special emissary, K. Padmanabhiah, and the Director of the Intelligence Bureau, K.P. Singh, were present at the meeting.

Mr. Muivah, NSCN (I-M) general secretary, said that if the Government "would respect the reality of Nagaland, the Nagas would respect the reality of India 10 times more". He said a good beginning had been made and that "there is a better understanding now" with the Government acknowledging the unique history and circumstances of Nagaland. If things went along this path, he said, "We can talk and reach a meeting point."

Mr. Swu echoed the sentiment. The effort was to find a solution keeping in mind the history of the Naga people. "The Prime Minister and the leadership of India are very open. They are trying to solve the problem according to the history of the Naga people." Asked whether the final goal of the NSCN (I-M) remained the creation of a "Greater Nagaland", he said, "There is no greater or smaller Nagaland; there is just Nagaland."

Mr. Swu was among those who participated in the failed talks of 1967 between the undivided Naga leadership and the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. Asked about the difference between the talks in 1967 and that in New Delhi today, he said, "I have to be very frank. The previous talks were not mature on both sides and so we could not solve the problem. But this time the leadership is mature and wants to tackle the problem realistically."

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