Guwahati: The Global Naga Forum (GNF) on Saturday welcomed the Union government’s appointment of Ajit Lal, IPS (retd), former chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC), as the official interlocutor for the Indo-Naga political talks.
In a press release, the GNF said it also welcomed the Centre’s decision to include a Union Minister or a group of Union Ministers in the negotiation framework.
The Forum said the political settlement is long overdue and the move is expected to bring fresh urgency to the peace process. It said this would help create an environment for an honourable, inclusive and enduring settlement.
The GNF recalled that the Nagaland government had convened a consultative meeting on September 12, 2024.
Naga civil society organisations, tribal hohos and other organisations, around 45 in all, collectively resolved at the meeting to appeal to the Government of India to appoint a new interlocutor.
They also sought to raise the Indo-Naga political dialogue to the highest political level.
The Forum acknowledged the sustained efforts of Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio and his colleagues, and of Members of Parliament Phangnon Konyak and Supongmeren Jamir.
It also acknowledged the broad-based participation of tribal hohos, civil society organisations, mass-based organisations, church bodies, NGOs, students, political parties and other stakeholders in pursuing the resolution.
The GNF described the appointment of Lal as the new interlocutor, along with the inclusion of Union Ministers in the framework, as a significant development.
The Forum appealed to the NSCN/GPRN leadership and the Government of India to approach the negotiations with “utmost seriousness, sincerity and urgency”. It noted that nearly three decades after political negotiations began, the Naga people continue to await a lasting solution.
The GNF said the Naga people deserve peace, dignity and an early political solution. It expressed hope that the Indo-Naga peace process would become an example of resolving a protracted armed conflict through “dialogue over confrontation, reason over conflict, and peace over violence”.
The Forum urged leaders on both sides to rise to their responsibility and leave a legacy that the people of the Northeast and the wider world would remember for the wisdom, statesmanship and courage needed to resolve what it called the Naga people’s nearly century-old political struggle.