High time for Centre to announce agreements with Naga groups: Jamir

Congratulates LK Advani on Bharat Ratna award
DIMAPUR, FEBRUARY 3: Former Chief Minister and veteran Naga politician Dr SC Jamir has said that it is high time for Government of India to officially announce “without any hesitation” both the agreements it had formally signed with Naga groups.

In a statement issued on Saturday, Jamir ~ who has had gubernatorial stints in Gujarat, Odisha, Maharashtra and Goa ~ congratulated BJP stalwart LK Advani on being conferred Bharat Ratna and recalled their political dealings vis-à-vis the Naga issue.

“As a Congressman for many decades, we were also political opponents and there were occasions we had differences in approach on many issues of politics and governance. I worked closely with him, closely in a sense when he became the central Home Minister under Late Atal Bihari Vajpayee and I was the Chief Minister of Nagaland in 1998. During my interactions with Shri Advani and also the then Prime Minister Late Vajpayee, I told them that the Ceasefire in Nagaland as announced between the NSCN-IM and then Prime Minister IK Gujral Government in 1997 was actually an initiative of the underground leaders.

“The fact of the matter is by 1996-97, my Government had built up pressure on underground elements and their nefarious activities like extortion. Even globally many countries including in South East Asia had developed new policies towards militancy and terrorism. So, my moot point was that the Gujral Government should have handled the entire thing with the NSCN-IM from a position of ‘strength’. But that might not have been the case. Even the negotiations were being held in foreign countries just because the NSCN-IM leaders insisted on the same”, the statement read.

Jamir recalled how he used to complain to Vajpayee and Advani that Nagaland State Government was still in the dark on what “is being discussed”.

“In fact, both Vajpayee and Shri Advani could not tell me more. Vajpayee ji used to smile and told me that as long as the underground would like to talk, we can go on talking even for hundred years because talking is not difficult. Today, maybe everyone is realising that the Naga peace talks have gone far too long. And it is high time that both agreements that were formally signed with the underground groups should be announced officially by the Government of India without any hesitation”, he stated.

According to Jamir, the Modi Government would do well resolve the Naga issue at the earliest. “This will change the scenario in Northeast India. I have said earlier as well, if a solution is announced, Prime Minister Modi will be remembered by the Naga people as a great statesman”, he added.

Also, Jamir maintained that conferring the highest civilian award on Advani was a “befitting tribute to a leader who stood steadfast in giving his party BJP and the country a decisive and assertive leadership”.

“As the literal translation of the nomenclature ‘Bharat Ratna’ suggests – Shri LK Advani ji has been truly a ‘Jewel of India’. In 2024, political observers are bound to admit that the veteran Advani would always be remembered for bringing about a major transition in Indian politics especially since the 1990s”, read the statement.

(Page News Service)