Mokokchung, June 17 (MTNews): A delegation of the Global Naga Forum met the chief minister of Assam and chairman of North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), Himanta Biswa Sarma in Guwahati on April 16 evening where they held a closed door meeting that lasted for about an hour and half. The meeting was held in regard to the Naga political issue but the details were not disclosed. However, the GNF delegation also submitted a memorandum to Sarma which was made available to Mokokchung Times.
In the memorandum titled “Key to an Honorable and Peaceful Resolution of the Indo-Naga Political Problem,” the GNF said that, after all these decades, the Naga people believe the Government of India has understood the nature of the Naga cause. “There’s got to be a meeting place between this understanding and the long held Naga aspiration for a just and honorable settlement. That meeting place would be the foundation for ending the conflict, because otherwise the present generation will pass on the same problem to the next generation and the next and so on,” it read.
Saying that the present situation has real challenges but also offers an opportunity for a permanent and peaceful resolution, GNF told Sarma that he may come to have a place in history. The GNF had earlier made reference to the third Chief Minister of Assam, Bimala P. Chaliha, who did “his best to help resolve the problem peacefully, but the conditions were different then.” “Today, as Chief Minister Chaliha’s successor, you are in a similar place regarding the still unresolved Indo-Naga problem. We are therefore requesting your kind attention and earnestly seek your intervention on our behalf,” the GNF wrote.
GNF told Sarma that Naga people are especially happy that Prime Minister Modi, on 3rd August 2015, while signing the Framework Agreement, expressed his commitment to ending the conflict and restoring the dignity of the Naga people. “Successive representatives of the Indian government have expressed many times that the negotiating parties will hammer out an “inclusive and honorable” political solution for the Naga people,” GNF added. It went on to say that, “for the Naga people, our stand is clear: commitment to our human dignity and rights as a people.”
GNF further mentioned that they expect an “Honorable Solution” to be based on the following: Respect for Naga historical and political rights; Official recognition of Naga Flag and the Constitution; Inclusive Solution – a solution for all the Naga political groups and Naga areas; Demilitarization of the region; and complete autonomy in governance over all the ancestral Naga Homeland.
“We have confidence that a just solution based on these commitments will restore Naga dignity and rights, end the armed conflicts in the region, and bring permanent peace not only in the region but in India and Myanmar,” GNF added.
While requesting Sarma to be “a helpful player for a just resolution of the problem so that the Naga people can finally look forward to peace in our homeland and with you and your people for a bright future together,” GNF added that Sarma would “complete the good work your early predecessor Chief Minister B. P. Chaliha started, but could not.”