India should solve Naga political issue before showcasing Hornbill Festival through G20: TNR

Mokokchung, November 23 (MTNews): As India plans to showcase Nagaland’s famous Hornbill Festival on a global scale when it assumes the G20 Presidency on December 1, 2022 and shoulder global leadership role, it must ask what would better reflect India’s image at the global stage through the lens of G20­­ or after, The Naga Rising said on Wednesday.

Saying that the issue was discussed during a meeting that G20 chief coordinator Harsh Vardhan Shringla had with Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, TNR said India should resolve the Naga political issue before showcasing the Hornbill Festival of Nagaland “through the lens of G20­.”

The Naga Rising (TNR) said that the Prime Minister must demonstrate courage and clarify the ambiguity surrounding the stand of Delhi on the Naga issue as this will help pave the way for the long-awaited solution.

TNR said that the Government of India (GoI) can resolve the Naga issue if it accepts the simple truth that the Naga issue is political in nature—not cultural or law and order. “The wide spectrum of political support towards the Naga peace process through successive Indian Prime Ministers should neither be undermined at this stage,” TNR added.

Stating that the Naga Political Groups (NPGs) have gone out of their way to understand the difficulties of the GoI and “have met the GoI halfway on integration, sovereignty and other core issues that were earlier considered non-negotiable by the Nagas,” TNR said the flag and constitution are the only unresolved issue.

According to TNR, the Naga flag and constitution is neither a threat nor diminish India’s standing as an emerging global power. “These symbols are embedded in the unique history and situation of the Nagas, as rightly acknowledged and recognized by the GoI,” it said.

“A meeting point on the unresolved flag and constitution should be arrived at without further delay. The long years of investing in the peace process for an honourable solution by the Naga people should be respected by both Delhi and Naga Political Groups (NPGs),” TNR stated.

Recognising the Naga flag should be a way of honouring Naga integration, which Naga negotiators have agreed to pursue later. It will also realise the ‘special arrangement’ for the Nagas that has been promised at the highest level of the GoI.

It also said that a meeting point on the unresolved flag and constitution should be arrived at without further delay. “The long years of investing in the peace process for an honourable solution by the Naga people should be respected by both Delhi and Naga Political Groups (NPGs),” it added.

“The Naga people have put their trust on the negotiators and the peace process with high hope of a new era ushering in that is defined by peaceful co-existence. Unfortunately, uncertainty continues to loom large over the Naga issue and it is the responsibility of the negotiators to ensure that hope does not turn into despair,” TNR stated.

Citing Prime Minister Modi’s message at international forums that the present era is not the time for war, TNR said the PM should in the same breath realise that this is not the era of divide and rule but of peace and resolution.