GUWAHATI:
For the first time, the biggest of all armed groups from the Nagaland, the NSCN (IM), has broken its silence on the framework agreement it signed with New Delhi in August this year, saying it looks at a final solution in which Nagas will have the right to exercise their 'sovereign powers' over their 'territories.'
The group has given a broader outline of the competencies of the deal through a press statement.
"The 'framework agreement' is based on the uniqueness of Naga history, which means Nagas are a free people and they have never been a part of Union of India or Burma or any other power either by conquest or consent," NSCN (IM) said in the statement.
"Both the parties agreed that sovereignty, according to the universal principle of democracy, lies with the people, not government or monarch. And that sovereignty of the Nagas lies with the Naga people and sovereignty of India lies with the Indian people. However, with a view to solving the Indo-Naga political problem both the parties agreed to share sovereign power for an enduring and peaceful co-existence of the two entities," the joint council of revolutionary government of NSCN further said in the statement.
For over half a decade, the Nagaland state government and the Centre had been at loggerheads on land and natural resources. The former UPA government had objected when Nagaland wanted to explore the hydrocarbon reserves of the state on its own. The NSCN (IM) had then indicated that the land rights issue is going to get resolved.
"The land and its resources of both below and above the earth totally belong to the Nagas," the statement added.