The Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR) on Monday called for “re-imagining” the Naga peace process with the people and their aspirations at its heart.
It felt the process should be anchored in “multi-dimensional politics” with active participation of the people in it.
“This will strengthen the process and open up possibilities for transparency, accountability, credibility and integrity making it viable and responsive,” the FNR said in a statement.
“A re-imagined peace process has reconciliation as the pivotal point that will determine whether an outcome can be implemented in a manner which is respectful, dignified, durable, sustainable and just, and therefore workable.”
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Saying the present deadlock in the Naga political process requires reconciliation, the FNR explained that reconciliation is part of the forward movement embedded in the vocabulary of the political process that enables historical and political transformation.
The FNR clarified that it has never been part of the Naga political process with the government of India. It added any agreed upon issues of the Nagas between the entities cannot be credited to it.
The statement also said the FNR’s primary mandate from the Naga people has been to work for Naga reconciliation on the basis of Naga historical and political rights.
The FNR viewed the present political process as ordered and organised under recognised and established entities.
“The accounts indicate that the negotiating parties involved in the political process have adopted a tacit political understanding and are avoiding any difficulties within a tightly organised process,” it stated.
The FNR said “presumptions” cannot be permitted to impede the “possible transformation which is in the making” even as the people are still waiting to officially hear in detail what is being worked out. “Neither should it erroneously deconstruct what is being worked out between the stakeholders of both India and the Nagas,” it stated.
The FNR feels that the presumptions seem to be an attempt to “pass the buck” to it “in an effort to avoid jumping the hurdle of sustainable peace”.
“Scapegoating by choosing to ‘blow the whistle’, as it seems, on FNR is a sign of weak questionable politics,” the statement said.
The statement further clarified that the FNR is not a church organisation although its members are from “Christian crossing institutionalised church bodies”. What has been made clear often has not been highlighted, it said.
“We must avoid any political character of Christian convictions that might otherwise be a reactionary position endangering other religious bodies and communities,” the FNR added.