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Rezaul H Laskar
The government on Wednesday said the four-year-old truce with the National Socialist Council of Nagalim was holding despite differences over the area covered by it.
"The ceasefire with the Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim is still in currency and it is holding," said PD Shenoy, additional secretary in the Union Home Ministry.
"It has been amply clarified by the government and the Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani that we are committed to the ceasefire," Shenoy said.
The two sides have periodically extended the ceasefire, which began on August 1997. The latest extension made last year, ended on Tuesday midnight.
The future of the truce, which New Delhi said has been extended for another year beginning Wednesday, has been mired in confusion following reports that the NSCN (I-M) has threatened to walk out of it if was not expanded to all parts of the country.
The government announced on July 27 it was going back on an earlier decision to expand the ceasefire beyond the state of Nagaland.
That decision, taken at a meeting between NSCN (I-M) leaders and government emissary K Padmanabhaiah in Bangkok, sparked fears in neighbouring states that it would be the first step towards merging all areas populated by Naga tribals to form a 'greater Nagaland' as demanded by the rebel leadership.
This triggered protests in the region and led to the death of 19 people in Manipur, which is home to a large number of Nagas.
Senior home ministry officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the NSCN's threats to walk out of the truce were 'aimed at placating the local population' in Nagaland.
"They do not want to lose face at their inability to get the truce expanded," said a senior official.
"Greater Nagaland is a long-standing demand of the Nagas," he added.
The officials pointed to a joint statement issued following Padmanabhaiah's talks with NSCN (I-M) leaders in Amsterdam last month as proof of the rebels' desire to persevere with peace talks.
"It is...agreed that the talks on substantive issues will be taken up as frequently as possible so as to expedite the pace of the peace process," the statement said.
The issue has, however, struck an emotional chord among the Nagas, who for long have been demanding the amalgamation of all Naga-populated areas in India and neighbouring Myanmar to create an independent homeland.
"There are sizeable Naga populations in several northeastern states as well as Myanmar and their aspirations cannot be ignored," said Neingulo Krome, general secretary of the Naga People's Movement for Human Rights.
Indo-Asian News Service
Complete coverage of the Naga truce issue
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