Muivah signs historic peace pact with two rival factions

The Naga underground movement for a sovereign state has entered a new phase with three rival factions including the NSCN...

The Naga underground movement for a sovereign state has entered a new phase with three rival factions including the NSCNIM,often referred to by security agencies as the mother of all insurgencies in the Northeast,signing an agreement to reconcile on the basis of the historical and political rights of the Nagas.

Top leaders of the three rival factions who met in Dimapur on Saturday for the first time and signed the agreement included NSCNIM general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah,NSCNK Prime Minister N Kitovi Zhimomi and Naga National Council secretary Brig retd S Singnya. A joint statement issued by the three said they had agreed to iron out their differences and cease all forms of hostilities including territorial expansion.

Facilitated by the Forum for Naga Reconciliation FNR,which has been working towards getting all the Naga rebel groups to work together by resolving their differences,the meeting has been already declared as a historic day. This is a historic day which will go down as another historic landmark in the struggle for Naga rights. This is the first time that top leaders of all the three groups finally met, a statement issued by the FNR in Dimapur said.

According to FNR,signatories of the Covenant of Reconciliation would be engaged in working out their differences in the coming days. The FNR also reminded all Naga political groups that one without the other would be incomplete and it stood by its own words. All of them were part of the jig-saw-puzzle of the Naga nation and everyone has a role to play, the FNR statement said.

Several hundred Nagas have lost their lives in the violent clashes especially between the NSCNIM and NSCNK. While the two factions were engaged in a series of clashes throughout 2008,several cadres from both sides have been killed this year too.

FNR also thanked the Baptist World Alliance,Quakers and American Baptist Churches for their prayers and for walking with Nagas in their journey towards reconciliation.

The two NSCN factions are currently in ceasefire with the government of India and NSCNIM has been engaged in peace negotiations with New Delhi for over more than past ten years.