Shutdown in ‘Nagalim’ as NSCN-IM protests Centre’s silence on Framework Agreement

Express News Service
GUWAHATI: On the sixth anniversary of the Framework Agreement on Tuesday, insurgent group National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN-IM) staged a protest against the Centre’s silence on the pact by enforcing a shutdown of shops and commercial establishments across “Nagalim” (Naga-inhabited areas).

The agreement was signed on August 3, 2015 in New Delhi as a prelude to the final settlement of the vexed Naga political problem.

According to reports reaching here, the 12-hour shutdown was total in most towns. However, it had little effect in Zunheboto and Mon. Most shops and business establishments remained open in the two districts.

On Monday, several other insurgent groups, which came together a few years ago under the banner of Naga National Political Groups or NNPGs, had asked the traders in the Sumi region to keep their establishments open or face action.

The NSCN-IM said the Framework Agreement was the fruition of grueling rounds of discussions to set the process of its talks with the Centre on a firm footing and find a solution that is honorable and acceptable to both sides.

“Now, the time has come again calling upon the Government of India to open the door for executing the Framework Agreement with all honesty and not resort to misinterpretation to suit its own convenience,” the NSCN-IM said in a statement.

“The political exigency is for the Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi to appoint his representative(s) to pick up the political talk with NSCN talk team and take the Framework Agreement to a logical conclusion,” the statement further said.

The NSCN-IM, which entered into a ceasefire with the Centre in 1997, is non-flexible on the demands for a separate Naga flag and constitution. 

“The very fact that the Nagas are not rigid had taken the Indo-Naga political talk this far. The pressing irony is that without the Naga national flag and Yezabo (constitution), everything discussed and agreed upon shall be nullified. More than that, the Framework Agreement should not be twisted to project that it is under the purview of Indian Constitution,” the statement added.