Centre concerned over violence in Nagaland

New Delhi, Dec 17: The Centre is concerned about the rising incidents of factional violence between the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah) and NSCN (Kaplang) factions and and has directed the state government to take stringent measures to check such incidents.

Since the Centre has a ceasefire agreement with both the factions of the NSCN, it has asked the Monitoring Group on ceasefire to keep a keen eye on the situation in the state so that such violent incidents could be controlled, Home Ministry sources told UNI.

Home Minister Shivraj Patil has conveyed the Centre's concern over the violence in the state to the Governor and the Chief Minister of Nagaland recently, and asked him to take effective steps to curb them. The Centre is also willing to sanction additional central forces to curb the violence, but the state government has not yet sought additional forces, they said.

The insurgency affected North Eastern state has witnessed about 282 incidents of factional violence till November 30 this year in which 110 extremists have been killed. About 28 civilians have lost their lives in such incidents and about 99 persons have been kidnapped.

Among the extremists killed in factional violence about 59 were of NSCN (IM) and 41 belonged to NSCN (K) while ten were of the Nagaland National Council. Among the kidnapped, 53 were from NSCN (IM) and 41 from NSCN (K).

The Ceasefire Monitoring Groups with both the factions have been asked to talk to the NSCN (IM) and NSCN (K) leader to ensure that they keep their cadre in the designated camps as agreed under the ceasefire agreements. The Monitoring Groups have been asked to become more vigilant to ensure that the factional violence was reduced in the state, they said.

Earlier, a Group of Minister headed by Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes held talks with the NSCN(IM) leadership in Amsterdam recently to extend the ceasefire agreement for one year. The ceasefire with NSCN(K) is also existing.

NSCN was formed January 31, 1980 by Isak Chisi Swu, Thuingaleng Muivah and S S Khaplang opposing the 'Shillong Accord' signed by the then NNC (Naga National Council) with the Indian government. Later, differences surfaced within the outfit over the issue of commencing a dialogue process with the Government and on April 30, 1988, the NSCN split into two factions, namely the NSCN-(K) led by S S Khaplang, and the NSCN-(IM), led by Isak Chisi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah.

NSCN-(IM) aims to establish a 'Greater Nagaland' ('Nagalim' or the People's Republic of Nagaland) based on Mao Tse Tung's ideology. Its manifesto is based on the principle of Socialism for economic development and a spiritual outlook 'Nagaland for Christ'.

The leaders of NSCN(IM) are based in Thailand. The NSCN-(IM) primarily consists of Tangkhul Nagas who are in majority in parts of Nagaland and the hills of Manipur.

UNI