Proposal for civil society audit of the Indo Naga Peace Process

Introduction: 

There have been plans since 2007 onwards towards organizing the second civil society peace audit/meeting with participants from the Naga areas in the north east and from India. In preparation towards this, two visits from the Indian Civil Society had been undertaken to most of the districts in Nagaland and Manipur, one in 2006 and another in 2007. Two reports have also been prepared but not shared extensively as yet with the public with a view to first have in-house discussion. But, due to several factors we have not been able to undertake such an exercise of audit till now. The most important factor being unification efforts from Naga civil society groups among all Naga factions. This initiative has been very welcome and timely and we did not want to force this effort to dilute or deflect the inner process that was much needed as the Naga Society was torn apart at it seams as it were with violence and killings which in some sense threatened the very peace process itself. Moreover, the tension, the violence, the killings and the divisions among the Nagas weakened the negotiators’ position while representing the Nagas, hence may have made the negotiators vulnerable to the pressures of the Indian state. Though 13 years have gone by since the cease fire agreement in 1997 between Govt. of India and NSCN (IM) towards resolving the issues through a dialogue process there seemed to have been only eerie silence from the two sides for sometime! The public including the ordinary Naga public did not know whether there has been any progress at all with regard to the peace process! This gave rise to speculations and wide spread uncertainty, confusion, anarchy and Naga society has become vulnerable to be swayed by fissiparous tendencies.

However, the recent spurt in activities and the resumption of dialogue process has kindled hope among Nagas and some sections of Indians who are committed to the peace process that there is still hope for resolution of long pending issues concerning the Naga people.

However, it may be useful to reflect on the happenings since the last few years where the Naga Civil Society has been active in taking a series of initiatives towards promoting a process of reconciliation and unity among the Naga People including various militant organizations and there needs to be affirmation of this process! Our hope is that it will continue to pave way for negotiating a lasting settlement with Gov. of India. The recent revival of efforts towards dialogue at the highest level is a positive sign though it is coming after a long gap! It may be an opportune time for Indian civil society and from the Naga civil society to jointly evolve programmes to exert pressure on the both parties towards finding a just solution.

There is a realization among the India civil society that there has been nothing or very little done by them towards strengthening peace process except for the two visits to Naga areas to study and understand the ground realities and feel the pulse of the people as it were!. Keeping this in mind a meeting was organized in Delhi in February 2010 with a few members of Naga Civil Society and Indian Civil Society with a view to initiate a joint process towards pressuring the parties to continue a meaningful and a constructive dialogue process. At that meeting it was resolved to come out with a status report on the peace process and take the civil society process forward. However, instead of status report we have come out with a dossier on the Naga peace process. We are hoping that this reading material would provide a comprehensive understanding of the current Naga peace process and pave way for strengthening the campaigning.  

Background:

The peace process and ceasefire agreement between the government of India and the NSCN (IM) is in its 13^th year.  The political negotiations have taken place from time to time since the announcement of ceasefire in July 1997 at international venues and in India.    In the early phase of the negotiations there was a lot of hope particularly among the Naga communities that there will be honourable settlement to their nearly six decade old political questions.  To some extent the ceasefire and negotiations helped both the negotiating parties to identify substantive political issues and ease the atmosphere of conflict between the cadres of NSCN (IM) and government forces. There was definite sense of relief and respite from issues and concerns among common people that such conflicts generate. It also made possible the visit of NSCN (IM) leaders to India and the Naga areas.

However, in the last couple of years the visible stagnation in the negotiations has led to apprehensions and uncertainties among the Nagas.  From time to time there have been reports of referring to the Indian constitution to explore possibilities of accommodating the demands of the Nagas.  The government negotiators who are basically beauracrats have from time to time resorted to public statements indicating a watering down of the premise on which the dialogue had begun, namely, that the negotiations will be unconditional and they will be held at the highest level and they will be held in a third (foreign) country.  On the other hand, within the Indian political establishment no move has ever been made by the parties in power at the center in India to debate and discuss the Naga demands either within the Parliament or outside of it. 

The opposition to the Naga demand of unification by neighbouring communities and regions continues particularly in Manipur from not only the armed groups there but also from the people and the civil society.  Conflicts between Nagas and Assamese along the Nagaland-Assam border have sometimes have turned violent.  Even in Arunachal Pradesh both the state government and the civil society have opposed the inclusion of Tirap in Changlang into an aspired unified area of the Nagas.

The most alarming developments recently started with elections to the state assemblies held in Manipur the previous year and Nagaland.  The NSCNs agreement for continuing the ceasefire with the government of India unconditionally even while a consultation of the Naga civil society groups recommended to the contrary also led to many misgivings. With all these developments the civil society today finds itself at cross roads.

Two Naga persons declared a new group called ‘Unification’ in November 2007 – each person supposedly belonging to one of the two main factions. They declared they were unifying on behalf of their respective factions. Both factions though disowned the declaration officially and held that the council of soldiers could decide any unification. Most Naga organizations questioned the legitimacy and intentions of the leaders ‘declaring’ unification. They urged the unified group to observe certain standards of unification and address issues of justice and accountability and work on the basis of an understanding of the split that created NSCN-K and NSCN-IM faction’s years ago.

Once it came into being and having been rejected by both main factions and the Naga civil society in general, this unification group engaged itself in kidnapping, extortion and killing of IM cadre and businessmen in Dimapur. The NSCN (IM) was quick to hit back. In a major such operation NSCN (IM) killed 14 cadre of the Unification group on May 15, the ‘Naga Plebiscite Day’. Thus in a series of factional and inter group clashes in Nagland since March this year, more than 104 persons have been killed.

What has fuelled factionalism and killing is the larger reason of disappointment with the Indo-Naga Peace Talks. This in addition to local conflicts over territory and community affinity among the cadre has led to the present crisis. Most of the cadres of the Unification group belong to the Semas and their target is mostly Tangkhuls – both cadre and civilians.

The government of India is seen as deliberately delaying the process of a settlement of the Naga demands. M.K. Narayanan – the National Security Advisor to the PM in February 08 said ‘broad concessions’ under the constitution could be given to the Nagas but anything ‘outside the constitution’ will not be possible. This position of the Indian State is contrary to the very spirit of the ceasefire agreement of 1997.

Role of civil society: 

Civil society groups from different parts of the Naga areas, the north east, India and from around the world played a meaningful role that led to a process of consultation between the Naga civil society and the NSCN (IM).  The Naga civil society has definitely played a meaningful role in affirming the peace process all these years. Apart from playing the role of monitoring the ceasefire it also made efforts to build relationships with their counterparts in other states of the northeast and in India.

However, there has been a slowdown in its activities and has been under pressure in the emerging situation where there is a visible stagnation in the peace process and an apparent going back on the part of the government of India and a hurried process of unification led by a section of the Nagas. 

On the other side there has not been much progress in initiating dialogue with the neighbouring communities who will be affected by the demands for Naga reunification.  Much worse, the Indian civil society groups have not been active to demand accountability from the government of India vis-à-vis the peace process. 

In the light of these circumstances where the Indo Naga Peace Process is under threat it is proposed that a civil society meeting be organized with participants drawn from the Naga organsiations, other civil society organizations in the north east and India to deliberate on different aspects of the current realities and start a process of dialogue and strategizing a campaign to pressurize the Govt. of India to resolve the issue once and for all.

Bringing together Civil Society: Early Efforts

A civil society meeting was organised in Kohima in early 2001, which affirmed support to the peace process, while taking serious note of the related contentious issues and vowed to address some of those issues from the civil society perspective. Many leading civil society actors from India including from the other states representing many organizations within North East and Naga areas participated in these deliberations. This initiative also led to constituting a research cum fact finding team constituting Mr. Ram Narayan Kumar and Ms. Laxmi Murthy as members of independent fact-finding team to investigate into violations of cease fire.   This team, with help from The Other Media and other Naga Civil Society Organisations, completed a comprehensive report on the “Indo-Naga Ceasefire Agreement and Peace Process – Four Years of Ceasefire: Promises and Pitfalls”.

This report critically analysed the lack of clarity in ground-rules and the violations of ceasefire by both parties, moreover the report analyzed the violations themselves clarifying many grey areas in the ground-rules, and sought a review. This evoked a strong response through a 40 page response from the Indian Army refuting all the charges. Unfortunately, this couldn’t be followed up!

Anxieties – of present and future

Fears about the collapse of the fragile ceasefire agreement are as old as the peace process, itself. They are not ill founded, understanding the complexity and the nature of the issues that are involved and the continuing hegemonic attitude of the Indian state. As a matter of fact, the Govt. seems to have gone back on the understanding that there will be no preconditions for the negotiation threatening the fragile process.  However, despite its limitations, the cease-fire has held on but whether any gains have been made through the peace process is any one to guess.

Those who have been following the peace process for the last 13 years feel agitated and frustrated on the lack progress made so far. Every one including those who have been affected by conflicts are looking expectantly on the out come of this peace process as this will pave way for universalising the peace process in the whole sub-continent. But, the indications of the peace process in the last eleven years are any indication the future seems to be uncertain. Added to this is the on-going crisis between Naga people and the Manipur Government on two counts:

1. Naga people in the South (Manipur) rejecting and boycotting of ADC elections and

2. Manipur state blocking of entry of Mr. Muivah into Manipur to visit his native place

A renewed effort – the proposal for a CS peace audit

We fear that the meeting between NSCN-IM and Govt. of India being held now may not come out with any concrete solution, as there seems to be distrust in the air due to non-performance so far and well known political positions of the parties concerned. Coupled with this is the knowledge of the process itself, which is shrouded in mystery and secrecy. It is time for the civil society organizations to initiate a process of reflection and evaluation of the Indo-Naga Peace Process from our own perspective during the last thirteen years. There is a need to understand the substantive issues that have prevented both the parties in making progress in their peace negotiations leave alone arriving at a just and a reasonable solution to the vexed problems that they face. There is a need to do a peace audit now from a Civil Society perspective.

Keeping this in mind and in preparation towards organizing a civil society Peace Audit, representatives from the Indian Civil Societies visited almost all the districts of Naga areas in 2006 and 2007. But unfortunately due to ground realities in Naga areas the Peace Audit could not be held in 2007. In mid 2008 some members of traveled to Nagaland and Manipur again and held deliberations in several locations. Now since the negotiations are on we are proposing to organise a civil society Peace Audit programme on the Indo-Naga Peace Process to exert pressure on the parties involved in the dialogue, towards hastening the process so that lasting solution could be found.

This time around it is scheduled to be a three day consultation between the concerned members from the civil societies of Nagas, others from the northeast and members from Indian civil society groups from rest of India.  Some of the senior friends from different walks of life, who have been following the developments related to Naga peace process, are being requested to make presentations on the varied aspects of the Naga Peace Process to initiate discussions and open up debates. We are hoping that the Peace Audit programme will be a culmination of a process where the Indian Civil Society groups would generate consciousness around the issues and organise a series of programmes in different parts of India towards strengthening the Naga Peace Process.

It is now planned to organize a Pilot Programme in Bangalore, where the Indian Civil Society groups with the community of Nagas present in the city would organize a series of programmes in Bangalore.  The plan would include a one-day Seminar sponsored by either by the political science department of the Bangalore University and if possible by the National Law School or other academic institutions in Bangalore.  Public programmes were also proposed to be organised in the evenings in different colleges with the help of different Civil Society Organizations in the city.  The programmes would also include singing and music and other Cultural activities.  Based on this experience of the Pilot programme, plans are to organise programs in Mumbai, Chennai, Trivandrum, Hyderabad, Kolkotta, Bhopal, Delhi and ultimately culminating in either Nagaland or in the Naga areas of Manipur.

Preparatory phase:

Keeping the proposal in perspective two activities are proposed in the preparatory phase, one, to work on a dossier which has been under preparation for sometime would be shared with some key members from both India and Naga civil society towards finalization and two, present the plans of organizing a Peace Audit programme in Naga areas in the near future. We can continue to discuss organising a series of events in different metropolitan cities towards a) creating awareness of the Naga struggle and b) build pressure on the parties towards finding a lasting solution.    

A Background Dossier for Civil Society Audit of Indo Naga Peace Process (1997 – 2010)

A Dossier on the 13 years of Peace Process and negotiations (including the regular extension of the ceasefire and associated issues) is being prepared prior to the actual programme. The Dossier in draft is available now! The dossier will be used as resource material for initiating discussion. The structure of the dossier is as follows:

Acknowledgement                                                                                                       1

Preface                                                                                                                        2                     

Abbreviation                                                                                                                3

A list of Naga Tribes/ Districts                                                                                    4

Chronology of Landmark Facts in Naga History (to be updated)                              6

Maps                                                                                                                           10

I.          INTRODUCTORY NOTE ON THE NAGA PEACE PROCESS               13

             (Two senior friends are working on it)

II         FACTIOONAL CLASHES                                                                           14

            (To be finalized)                                                                                             

III        SPOILER TO THE NAGA PEACE PROCESS                                           17

             (To be finalized)

IV        RECONCILIATION: CIVIL SOCIETY INITIATIVE                               19

            (To be finalized)                                             

V         APPENDICES:

            i)          Naga Memorandum to Simon Commission, 1929                                                                                                                                                                  22

            ii)         The Nine Point Agreement 1947                                                                                                                                                                                            24

            iii)        The Shillong Accord of 11 November, 1975 between the

                        Government of India and the Underground Nagas                           26

            iv)        371(A): Special Provision with respect to the State of Nagaland      28

            v)         17-Point Agreement: The Peace Mission’s proposal, 1964                 31

            vi)        Ground Rules for Ceasefire Finalized between the Government of

                        India and the NSCN on 12^th December 1997                                                35

            vii)       Revised Text of Agreed Ground Rules for Cease-Fire finalized

                         between the Government of India and NSCN on

13^th January, 2001                                                                               37

            viii)      Second Ceasefire between India and Nagalim, 1997                                    40

            ix)        Civil Society Meeting on Human Rights, Justice and the Naga

                        Peace Process Kohima, March 18-19, 2001                                        42

            x)         Memorandum submitted to the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India,

                        Dr. Manmohan Singh by the United Naga Council (UNC)

                         Delegation from the Naga areas of Manipur state on Hill House

                         Tax-2006                                                                                            44                                                                                                                   

            xi)        Memorandum submitted to PM by the Naga Civil Organization on

                        affiliation of Schools to NBSC                                                           47                                                           

xii)              A Journey of Common Hope, 2008                                                    49

xiii)            NPMHR Questions Factional Feud, 2009                                          50

xiv)            A Joint Declaration of Joint Working Group, 2009                           51

xv)       Historical context by luingam Luithui                                                52       

xvi)      Memorandum of MP, Mani Charenamei and 6MLA’s to GOI

                        on Integration (yet to get the text from Mani Chrenamei)                 56

            xvii)     Statement by FNR on Covenant of Human Hope

                         (Yet to get the text from FNR)                                                         57                                                                                           

            xviii)    Opinions of the Concerned Citizens’ Forum of Mokokchung

                         submitted to Human Rights group who visited Mokokchung

                        on 28^th July 2006                                                                                 58

Preparatory meeting with a core groups representing both Indian and Naga civil society groups.

On 29^th April 2010, a meeting was convened with members representing all the Naga Civil Society organizations and some members of the Indian Civil Society groups in Kohima, where this proposal was presented and after a day’s deliberation on different aspects of the concept note cum proposal towards continuing with II phase of Civil Society meetings on the Indo-Naga Peace Process was welcomed and accepted.  (Kindly find a copy of the minutes of the meeting attached).

A core group of Naga Civil Society and Indian Civil Society was constituted to chalk out the final programme and the core group will also see to the organising of programmes in different cities culminating in the final programme in Naga area.  If possible, the final three-day peace audit programme that is being planned would be preceded by a two-day visit to different Naga areas by all those who would be participating from outside to get an opportunity to meet with representatives of organizations and people to get a opportunity to interact with common people and get an exposure to their lives and struggles.  The proposed visit will be to all Naga areas including states of Nagaland, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and Assam.

The Pilot phase would be in Bangalore! Indian Civil Society groups are planning to organise several programmes in different parts of India, towards strengthening and universalizing the Naga Peace Process. The plan is to organize a Pilot Programme in Bangalore, where the Indian Civil Society groups with the community of Nagas present in the city would organise a series of programmes in Bangalore.  The plan includes a one-day Seminar sponsored by either the political science department of Bangalore University and if possible by the National Law School or some Institutions. Students, academics, intellectuals, Human rights, civil rights, democratic rights activists, cultural activists and professional and eminent persons would be invited to participate in this programme.  There will be public programmes organized in the evenings in different colleges and public places with the help of different Civil Society Organizations in the city. This needs the support of Civil Society organizations in Bangalore. The programmes would include songs, music, exhibition, Cultural activities interspersed with speeches.

There is a need to constitute an organizing committee in Bangalore consisting of Naga Students Union, Bangalore, interested student organizations, Trade Unions, cultural activists, eminent persons and others. Institutions such as the political science department of Bangalore University, Institute for Socio and Economic Change, ISI, UTC and other theological colleges, Principal of St. Josheph’s College, representatives from Christ University, Visthar, Vimochana, Representatives from PUCL, Fireflies, FEDINA and other Human Rights’ organizations will also be approached. This will a two or three day programme. 

Based on the experience through this Pilot Phase in Bangalore programme, plans are to organize similar events in Mumbai, Chennai, Trivandrum, Hyderabad, Kolkotta, Bhopal, Delhi and ultimately culminating in either Nagaland or in the Naga areas of Manipur.

The plans are to organize the pilot phase of the programme either by August end or beginning September 2010.

Format for the Final Peace Audit

The tentative thematic presentations and discussions at the Civil Society Peace Audit meeting is proposed as follows:

1)      Ceasefire: Ground-rules, violations,  increasing militarization, security policies of the Indian State that govern North East

2)      Proposals before the negotiations: way ahead

3)      Integration of Naga areas: need for peoples’ mandate

4)      Combating misinformation: need for transparency and democratization of peace process

5)      Role of civil society: necessary re-thinking

6)      Factionalism and fratricidal violence: role of the civil society

Every session at the audit will include a presentation on the respective theme by a resource person, a response by a representative of the local/Indian civil society and discussions on the same.

Participation: Around 40 to 50 Civil Society representatives from different regions of India especially from places where programmes are being organized on the Indo-Naga Peace Process, and an equal number from the northeast will be part of the visits and the Peace Audit, excluding those from the Naga areas and other North Eastern states. The total number of participants is expected to be around 120. There is need to generate travel costs, local hospitality (including accommodation, food and other miscellaneous), venue costs etc towards the programme. The field visits and related costs also will have to be generated too.

Dates and Venue: The Peace Audit will be co organised with help of Naga civil society groups like the Naga Peoples’ Movement for Human Rights, Naga Hoho, Naga Women’s Union of Manipur, Naga Mothers Association, Naga Students Union etc. The meet is likely to be held at Senapati. The Peace Audit will be held as a residential programme for three days.

It is expected that the field-visits and the peace audit will set the course for a fresh and renewed civil society initiatives on the Indo-Naga Peace Process and will provide the much needed impetus towards not only strengthening of the process but hopefully creating an environment for finding a just, honourable and peaceful solution to the 60 odd year-old Indo-Naga conflict.