Divided over unification: Muivah

Muivah and K. Padmanabhaiah, special envoy of Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee, ended two days of talks on the ongoing peace process. ‘‘Keeping the Naga territories divided and talking of a solution is an insult to us,’’ he said. ‘‘We told the Indian Government whatever might be the efforts to bring about a solution to the Indo-Naga issue, if the unification of Nagas is not done, there will be no solution whatsoever.’’

‘‘As far as the final solution is concerned, it will certainly take time but with the Indian side now on the right track, it is both positive and praise-worthy. There is better understanding between us,’’ Muivah said.

Praising the Vajpayee Government, he said: ‘‘The leadership in India is more committed to finding a solution to the problem and it shows they are keeping themselves on the right track…If this attitude continues, it will surely lead to solutions. We praise them.’’

Muivah asserted that the Shillong Accord could not be made a matter for negotiations anymore. He said the Nagas were the ‘‘happiest’’ when Mahatma Gandhi assured them of an independent country. ‘‘Gandhi was farsighted.’’ At that time the Nagas did not take up arms till ‘‘Nehru sent 200,000 troops to take over Nagaland,’’ Muivah added.

The next meeting between the Centre and the NSCN (I-M) is likely to be held next month. The two-day meeting was the second round of talks between the two sides after Muivah and his colleagues visited New Delhi at the invitation of Vajpayee in January.

The other members of the delegation at the talks here were Gen Atem, convenor of the steering committee, Lungalung, ‘Home Minister’ and Zami, secretary of the steering committee. Muivah blamed the Government for creating a division by ‘‘putting Nagas in various states.’’ ‘‘India thought they could just ignore the Nagas and crush them, but it is not so,’’ he said, adding ‘‘even if we go on talking, we will still refer to the main issue of unification.’’

The NSCN (I-M) leader said the Centre was serious about the issue. ‘‘They know that the Nagas are justified on their part, only the way to work it out may be a problem. ‘‘We are not going to take any part from Manipur, the Meiteis, because since times immemorial, we have been living in our own territory and not in anyone else’s territory,’’ Muivah said adding ‘‘but now they want to claim it as their territory,’’ apparently referring to Manipur.

‘‘I told the Centre that the Nagas did not come into this world to live under the Meiteis or anyone. If this is not solved, the Centre’s claim of sincerity to solve the issue is a sham.’’ (PTI)