Cong for integration of Naga areas, ceasefire

KOHIMA: With elections round the corner, the Congress in Nagaland is supporting the integration of continuous Naga areas and extension of the ceasefire with militants without a territorial limit.
The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) is distributing a booklet titled "Speaking from experience", a collection of past addresses by chief minister S C Jamir, where he had referred to clause 13 of the 16-point agreement of 1960 between the Centre and the Naga National Council, "specifically inserted for the integration of contiguous Naga areas into Nagaland, if they so desire to join".
Clarifying the NPCC stand on ceasefire extension, the booklet says: "We feel peace should not be confined to Nagaland alone but the entire North-east region."
It supported the extension of the ceasefire beyond Nagaland, though the issue had sparked off widespread violence in Manipur in 2001.
But the election manifesto speaks of "a practical and workable solution".
According to the observers, "Speaking from experience" could be a damage control exercise after "Bedrock of Naga society", yet another publication by the Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee.
According to Nagaland Peoples’ Front leader Shurhozelie Liezietsu, "Bedrock of Naga society" argues that "the Nagaland state, whose formation was paved by the 16-point agreement, is the bedrock of Naga society."
Sovereignty is, therefore, "a myth" and the need for unification of Naga areas would not hold water either.
"The NSCN (I-M), the NSCN (K) and two groups of the NNC, all speak of sovereignty," reminds Shurhozelie, referring to different groups of militants whom he prefers to call "national workers".
The Congress manifesto says that "primacy should be given to the reconciliation process which requires a firm political will", thereby underscoring the need for unity among all the underground groups, particularly the NSCN(I-M) and the NSCN(K).