Day after Naga peace accord: No crackers, no festoons, it’s cautious optimism in Nagaland

In Dimapur, the state’s business centre, students attended schools and colleges, shops and offices remained open.



It was life as usual in Kohima Tuesday.

A day after the NSCN(IM) signed a historic “framework agreement” with the Centre moving a significant step closer towards ending an armed separatist movement, nobody in the state seemed ready to make any specific comment on the outcome without knowing the exact details of the agreement.

There were some who saw the scope of creating political space for the NSCN(IM) leaders. But most political leaders here did not see any immediate possibility of Muivah and his associates seeking political space within the framework of the Constitution.

Chief Minister T R Zeliang refused to hazard such a guess so early. “It’s difficult to make any observation without looking at the details of what the agreement has,” Zeliang said.

“It is too early to talk about creating political space for Muivah and his team. Moreover, going by what government interlocutor RN Ravi has said ( about “shared sovereignty”), we will have to wait for the details of the agreement that was signed on Monday,” Chuba Ozukum, president of Naga Hoho — the apex body of all tribal communities of the state said.

Meanwhile, there was no celebration or bursting of crackers, no banners or festoons to mark the occasion. In Dimapur, the state’s business centre, students attended schools and colleges, shops and offices remained open.

NSCN (IM) cadres seek transit help from Mizoram

Aizawl: Around 50 NSCN(IM) cadres holed up in the jungles of eastern Bangladesh have told Mizoram authorities that they might need transit assistance.

The shortest route from their Bangladesh base to Nagaland goes through Mizoram.

Sources said “Colonel” Apum,  NSCN(IM) commander in Chittagong region, contacted authorities Tuesday to intimate them of a possible return to India through Mizoram.