‘Centre to blame if Amsterdam talks fail’

A day ahead of the crucial peace talks between the Centre and the NSCN (I-M) in Amsterdam, apex tribal council Naga Hoho said today that New Delhi will be held responsible if the on-going peace process breaks down.

Reiterating its demand for integration of Naga-inhabited areas into a single administrative unit, the Naga Hoho said “imminent spate of bloodshed and violence” would follow in Naga areas if the peace talks failed, and the Centre would be solely responsible for it. The peace talks between NSCN (I-M) leadership and the Centre’s pointsman and Union Minister Oscar Fernandes will be held at Amsterdam tomorrow.

In a memorandum to PM Manmohan Singh, the Naga Hoho said Naga civil society organisations and political parties through various platforms and meetings during the past had informed the Indian leadership that “Naga integration is non-negotiable”.

Periodical ceasefire extensions without conclusive political action would not produce tangible security for the people, the council said, adding negotiators had submitted “instruments of bilateral coexistence” to the PMO, proposing a peaceful settlement of the prolonged conflict. The council also sought an intervention by the PM in the peace process to pre-empt it from breaking down.