The Naga talks may hit a road block with insurgent leaders Isak Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah all set to raise Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s reported assurance to Manipur leaders that the territorial integrity of their state will not be affected at the delegation-level meeting on Wednesday. Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh told mediapersons today that Vajpayee has assured an all-party delegation that the state boundaries will not be affected by the Naga peace process. Singh said that the delegation also demanded a constitutional amendment to protect its territory. The reported assurance of Vajpayee flies in the face of NSCN (I-M)’s demand for a greater Nagaland comprising Naga-inhabited areas of the neighbouring states including Manipur. NSCN(I-M)’s General Secretary Muivah is a Tangkhul Naga and hails from Ukhrul in Manipur. However, sources in the Prime Minister’s Office refused to either confirm or deny the claim made by Ibobi Singh. According to them, it was difficult for them to say what Vajpayee said and in what context. ‘‘Anybody can make a claim after meeting the Prime Minister,’’ said a PMO official. But sources close to Muivah, while refusing to join any public debate with Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh on the issue, told The Indian Express here this evening that they would take up the matter with the Centre at their talks tomorrow. The Naga insurgent leaders during their talks with Congress MP Rama Pilot had made it clear that they would settle for nothing less than getting the Naga-inhabited areas. Vajpayee’s reported assurance could lead to hardening of positions between the Naga leadership and their interlocutors. Talking to newspersons at Manipur House this evening, Okram Ibobi Singh claimed he had been given an assurance by Vajpayee that the ‘‘borders of Manipur would remain unchanged in the ongoing peace talks.’’ He said :‘‘The state will not give a single inch of land as part of Centre’s (possible) agreement with Nagas,’’ he said. Singh reiterated his demand that article 371 of the Constitution be amended and a clause added stating that the ‘‘territorial integrity of Manipur as it existed on October 15, 1949 is inviolable.’’ He expressed his willingness to participate in the ongoing peace talks ‘‘if invited.’’ Worried by NSCN leaders reiterating their demand for a Greater Nagaland, Singh air dashed to Delhi on Monday along with presidents of all major political parties in the state to gather assurances that Manipur was not on the negotiating table. They met Congress president Sonia Gandhi as well as Union Minister Sharad Yadav besides former Prime Ministers V P Singh, Deve Gowda and I K Gujral to drum up support for their cause. If the CM was looking for support back home, party presidents travelling with him pointed to an ‘‘all-party resolution on January 15 authorising him to hold talks with his Assam and Arunachal Pradesh counterparts on the issue.’’ Singh ruled out dropping the cases registered against the Naga leaders in his state but promised to ‘‘reconsider’’ depending on how the talks progressed. ‘‘The government has clearly told us that they are solving a problem, not creating a new one.’’ He also pointed to the last elections held in the state to put up a show of unity stating that ‘‘all people had participated and were together on maintaining the integrity of Manipur.’
