Muivah bid to break ice with rivals

Kohima, April 22: Hints of the ice breaking between rival NSCN factions have surfaced with NSCN (I-M) general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah expressing a desire to meet former comrade-in-arms-turned-bitter-foe S.S. Khaplang.NSCN (K) kilonser (minister) Y. Wangtin Naga said he had conveyed Muivah’s message and “best regards” to chairman Khaplang and commander-in-chief Khole, who had reciprocated by conveying their regards to Muivah and NSCN (I-M) chairman Isak Chishi Swu. However, no date for the meeting has been fixed.Wangtin met Muivah at Camp Hebron, the NSCN (I-M) council headquarters located 35km from Dimapur, on April 10. “I felt most privileged to meet Uncle Th. Muivah and was happy to convey his message to chairman S.S. Khaplang and Gen. Khole,” he said.Wangtin told this correspondent today that the meeting would not mean that Khaplang and Khole join the NSCN (I-M) but that the leaders meet and reconcile during their lifetime to make the “Nagas one family”.Since the NSCN split in April 30, 1988, Muivah and Swu have never met their old comrades, Khaplang and Khole. In 1997, the American Baptist Church, USA, convened a meeting for Muivah, Swu and Khaplang in Atlanta but the two NSCN (I-M) leaders did not attend it. Last year, Swu spoke to Khaplang at least twice over phone.Wangtin said the two groups could not continue fighting. “We should show our sincerity towards reconciliation and unification of all Naga groups”. This unification, he added, could come about only when individual factions stop negotiating with the government of India. “Stop the political dialogue for the unification,” he urged the rival group.The NSCN (I-M) had entered into a ceasefire with the government in 1997, following which it began dialogues for a solution to the Naga problem. It has already held over 50 rounds of talks.Wangtin said collective opinion was essential to hammer out a solution to the Naga problem and no group should ignore others towards this end. The peace talks between the Centre and the NSCN (I-M) did not carry the voice of all sections of the Naga people and, therefore, could not be called Naga talks. “The talks should include all Naga people. We can’t be part of the NSCN (I-M) talks,” he said.Wangtin, who is considered to be a moderate leader, strongly objected to some people in the Khaplang faction harbouring bad blood towards Muivah.He said with all sections of the Nagas working towards reconciliation and unification, hatred and criticism should be stopped forthwith. He urged all to handle the situation with utmost restraint.Kughalu Mulatonu, envoy of the collective leadership of the NSCN (K), has been demanding that Muivah, a Tangkhul Naga who hails from Ukhrul district in Manipur, should leave Nagaland and go to that state. According to him, Muivah’s problem lies in Manipur and should not be messed up with the Naga issue.He said his group would never be part of the NSCN (I-M) talks. “The government of India must clearly understand that the NSCN (Khaplang) will have separate talks with them,” he added.Wangtin said Naga leaders should not expect others to bow down before them. “Everyone must have equal responsibility in ushering in peace,” he said.He urged the Naga factions not to return to the “fratricidal madness” of two years ago. “He who opposes reconciliation among Nagas is anti-Naga,” he said.

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