Occasion – a solemn one – the Independence Day speech and why he was in a hurry ?
“As assured by the Hon’ble Union Home Minister (Amit Shah) in the meeting (Feb 5, 2026), a committee under the chairmanship of Minister of State for Home Affairs, Govt of India, has been recently constituted to lead the Naga peace talks,” – Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio said in his customary Independence Day speech on Saturday, Aug 15, 2026 at Kohima.
In normal circumstances, none would have bothered to write or analyse so much of a statement from a chief minister in office. But in Delhi – media, other analysts and those in the know of things otherwise feigned ignorance about the constitution of such a panel.
That’s the whole trouble and the issues involved. Of course, if the Home Minister himself has assured anything, such a panel can easily come. But there are obvious curiosity factors. The composition of the committee is a big issue and quite an exciting matter.
As on Aug 15, 2026 – the central government has two Ministers of State (MoS) in the council of ministers – Nityanand Rai and Bandi Sanjay Kumar. So it has to be clarified which among the two would be heading the committee.
Indications are that such a responsibility can be given to Nityanand Rai. He hails from Bihar and the incumbent Nagaland Governor Nand Kishore Yadav is also from that state. If the matter is already settled about which MoS – the composition comprising officials remain to be seen.
For no clear reasons, earlier interlocutor and the then state Governor RN Ravi was shunted out of Nagaland
and for that the state leaders had once drawn pride. However, the NPF leadership has lately retracted from that position and claimed appointments of Governors and their removal are sole prerogative of the central Govt.
This argument is a bit childish as it was never alleged or argued from any quarter that the Nagaland Govt had ordered the replacing of Ravi as the Governor. The point made politically was crystal clear – the state government had lobbied for his ouster. In fact, the differences between Rio and Ravi had come to the fore when the latter flagged off the ‘delicate’ chapter of Nagaland power polity – the extortion.
Here, the NSCN-IM and probably a few other underground organisations were unnerved. But what made the state government ‘uneasy’ about such a subject is somewhat a puzzle to some and a ‘well known’ reason for many. Subsequently, AK Mishra (a retired IPS officer) was appointed as a special peace emissary and in 2026, he too was suddenly replaced.
The new incumbent Ajit Lal is also a former IPS officer.
The issue of formation of a committee is actually a big snub to the state government and also the NSCN-IM. The initial demand beginning September 2024 was for a ministerial level negotiator.On the face value, it did not make much sense as Home Minister Amit Shah was himself was supervising the parleys during the tenure of both RN Ravi and AK Mishra.
Secondly, in Nov 2024, Rio led a Naga ministerial delegation and held a late night meeting with Shah. The demand for a new interlocutor (ministerial/political level) was rejected. Of course, no official statement came from anywhere. That ‘evening meeting’ was a big setback and after the meeting – even body guards and drivers could smell the mood of their bosses.
Apparently, outside the Home Minister’s house – no minister was even talking to each other and simply got into their respective vehicles.
“Negotiators are just messengers or envoys … do not blame RN Ravi or Mishra” – was a refrain from the Govt in Nov 2024.
This implies the negotiators were only discharging their duties on behlaf of the Government and the concerned decision makers in Delhi.
The fact of the matter is Mishra was appointed as centre’s new representative to talk to Naga rebels in 2021 after RN Ravi was shunted out as Governor of Nagaland.
Of course, Ravi – who had PM Narendra Modi’s blessings and enjoys good rapport with NSA Ajit Doval was made in charge of gubernatorial position in Tamil Nadu. Earlier this year just on the eve of elections in West Bengal; Ravi moved as Governor in the key eastern state which BJP was more than keen to capture.
On Aug 14, 2026 – it was no rocket science when NSCN-IM vice chairman VS Atem told journalists in Dimapur that – appointment of a ministerial level interlocutor was their demand.
Atem was more than categorical: “Yes, that was our demand…”.
He also made it clear that “the Nagaland state (Govt) is only facilitating. They are giving the boost … that’s all”.
Does it mean, any humiliation or disgrace for an elected government — the answer lies in the ‘womb’ of self-pride and somewhat a bit in the administrative basket called protocol.
~ Nirendra Dev
(The views expressed are those of the writer and not of the newspaper)
