Civil Society Meeting on Human Rights, Justice and the Naga Peace Process
KOHIMA, MARCH 18-19, 2001

Contact Address :
K-14, (1st floor)
Green Park Extn.
New Delhi 110 016
Tel: 6163830/6196640
E-mail admin@del3.vsnl.net.in


April 24, 2001

MEMORANDUM TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDIA

Mr. K.R. Narayanan
Hon'ble President of India
Rashtrapati Bhavan
New Delhi

Your Excellency,

A group of thirty eight persons representing a cross-section of Indian civil society visited Naga areas from March 14 to 20 to review the implementation of the ceasefire and the assess the future of the ongoing peace talks in the Northeast. The group consisted of jurists, lawyers, senior political leaders, academicians, writers, social workers, artistes, journalists and filmmakers from different parts of India. The group split into eight teams that traversed across eight areas in Nagaland, Manipur and Assam. The teams met villagers and towns-people, men and women, young and old, government officials, businesspersons, doctors, farmers, church leaders, community leaders, politicians, military personnel as well as civilians. We wish to share with you the salient points of our understanding, which is informed by these interactions and inspired by the desire to strengthen the peace process in the Northeast.

The ceasefire between the Government of India and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (I-M), which came into operation on July 7, 1997 had kindled hope among all the people that a mutually satisfactory solution would finally emerge. There is no doubt that at the initial stage, in the territory of the state of Nagaland, where the ceasefire agreement is under implementation at present, hostile activities had reduced substantially. It created a greater space for the ordinary people to carry on their everyday normal activities in relative safety. There was also hope that hostile activities would cease and a substantive peace process would take form. Unfortunately, during the past three years the peace talks made very little progress and the ceasefire was reduced to a mere paper agreement as both sides continued their military operations against each other putting the civilian population at risk. The repeated violations of the ceasefire, the absence of a transparent and an impartial ceasefire monitoring mechanism, the unilateral and often arbitrary decisions taken by the army and the NSCN (I-M) regarding the 'conditions and ground rules' of the ceasefire seem to have already shaken the faith of the Naga people in the success of the current peace process. The problem is further compounded by the controversy over the areas of coverage. The oppressive presence of the army in the towns, villages and on the national highways, even in Nagaland, the area which is formally covered by the current ceasefire makes people wonder about the ceasefire. The refusal of the government to make the ceasefire effective by sending the soldiers to the barracks and suspend the operations of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and to empower the civilian government has belied this fond hope for peace. The inconsistency of the position that the ceasefire agreement between the Government of India and the NSCN (I-M) was applicable to only the territory of Nagaland state and not in the Naga inhabited areas of Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh has taken an even greater toll on the public confidence in the peace process.

The incongruity of a ceasefire, while Armed Forces Special Powers Act remains in operation together with other draconian laws that seriously imperil the life and liberties of the ordinary people has pushed the Naga civil society away from playing an affirmative role. The restrictions on the movements of people and their right to hold meetings continue to be enforced. The fear of the Indian security forces has forced the Naga civil society into inaction. The refusal of the Government to include representatives of Naga civil society in the Ceasefire Monitoring mechanism seemingly has given birth to the feeling that the government did not want to involve the Naga people in the peace process. It is even more unfortunate that a
vilification campaign has been launched against the Naga Hoho, the traditional parliament of the Naga people, the Naga Mother's Association, NSF the apex student body, NPMHR and other civil society organisations. Significantly, the 'Ground Rules' for ceasefire, finalised between the two entities had envisaged a critical role for the Naga civil society organisations in the monitoring the ceasefire.

The prevalence of the laws that confers extraordinary powers on the "Armed Forces of the Union" and extends immunity to them has reduced the civilian administration to a farce. The security forces are still performing maintenance of law and order, which is the task of the civil police. The arrests of ordinary Naga citizens in Nagaland by security forces continue to remain unacknowledged. The allegations of torture, extra judicial killings and custodial rape continue to mount. As the security forces are protected by the Armed Forces Special Powers Act the criminal justice system has become virtually non-functional.

Indeed, it is paradoxical that it was the army rather than the civil authority, which was involved in the implementation of 'development projects' in Naga areas. If this was being done to popularise the army in the Naga areas, it seemed to have achieved the opposite. And if it was done because the civilian authorities could not be trusted then the pathetic
conditions of the roads, hospitalsand primary health care institution built under the army administered
development programmes did not inspire any confidence in the efficiency and incorruptibility of the armed
forces. We fear that this involvement of the security forces, which has made the civil authority in Nagaland
virtually moribund runs counter to civilian control over military that the Constitution of India envisages
and it might become a precursor of a dangerous trend in our polity.

In this connection we also wish to point out that the appointment of Shri O P Sharma, a retired police officer from Punjab as the Governor of Nagaland failed to inspire confidence about Government of India's commitment to the peace process. Particularly, as Shri Sharma was allegedly involved in a number of cases of disappearance in Punjab.

We were told that that the ceasefire was to enable the
two entities, Government of India and NSCN (I-M), to
begin a political dialogue 'without any preconditions'
at the highest level. The team chosen by the Indian
Government consists of a retired Home Secretary,
representatives of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and
Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and middle level
officials of the Home Ministry. His team has very
little powers. On all issues they are required to
refer to 'New Delhi'. As a result, even the
formulation of the ground rules for the ceasefire and
terms of ceasefire coverage in all Naga inhabited
areas could not be finalised till date. This decision
to relegate the responsibility for holding these talks
with the NSCN (I-M) to a team comprising bureaucrats
is being viewed by the NSCN (I-M) and the Naga people
as an attempt to scuttle the peace process. The
conspicuous absence of senior political leaders of the
government from the ongoing talks is an important
cause for concern. Since the first meeting in October
1998, the Indian Prime Minister has not met the NSCN
(I-M) leadership.

The Ceasefire Monitoring Group of the NSCN (I-M) told
us that the agreement between the government of India
and NSCN (I-M) was that the ceasefire would be
"universal" and that it would apply to all areas where
NSCN (I-M) was active. They also pointed out that the
Government of India, while having agreed to hold talks
with the NSCN (I-M), continues to declare the NSCN
(I-M) banned under the Unlawful Activities Act. They
pointed out that the government's unwillingness to
consider withdrawing arrest warrants against its
leaders was causing serious problems for the peace
talks.

According to the NSCN (I-M) Ceasefire Monitoring
Group, between August 1, 1997 to March 15 2001, there
have been 363 instances of violations by the Indian
armed forces. They claimed that more than a hundred of
their members who were not involved in any armed
actions at that time, were arrested during this
period. Some of them were charged under the National
Security Act allegedly for old offences. According to
information 32 members of NSCN (I-M) were reportedly
killed by Indian army personnel during this period. It
was alleged that during the same period, Indian
security forces also raped several Naga women.
Apparently the security forces have repeatedly
violated the agreed 'ground rules' raiding NSCN (I-M)
camps locations of which were voluntarily disclosed to
the army by the NSCN (I-M). Reportedly the armed
forces have also been undertaking house-to-house
searches to locate NSCN (I-M) functionaries and on
several occasions detained members of the NSCN (I-M)
Ceasefire Monitoring Group.

We feel that as the government is committed to a
political dialogue and pursue the current peace
process it should institute an independent inquiry
into these serious allegations about grave breaches of
the human rights of the Naga people.
The continuation of this oppressive state of affairs
is strengthening the impression that as in the past,
some of the agencies of the Government of India and a
handful of corrupt local politicians are bent on
subverting the ceasefire, tying it up in
technicalities of ground rules, in order to weaken the
commitment of the Indian government and NSCN (I-M) to
an unconditional political dialogue for peace. The
Commanding Officers of some of the units of Indian
armed forces whom we met in the Naga areas openly
expressed the view that they had "degraded" the NSCN
(I-M) and were only waiting for the ceasefire to
breakdown to "wipe out the menace". If these officers
were acting contrary to orders of the army high
command and the political authority, then from all
appearances, the message 'that the government is
desirous of reaching a negotiated solution' seems to
have failed to reach these officers. Indeed, mixed
signals and confusing statements by the Union Home
Minister and his officials along with the refrain of
inviting all parties to the dialogue add to the
confusion.

Your excellency, one of the things repeatedly stressed
by everyone and anyone we met was that since the
differences and divisions among the Naga insurgents
did not hinder the cease fire in the past, they need
not stand in the way of the negotiations in the
present and that Government of India must start the
process which has been stalled for three and half
years. 'Unity' in the eyes of the Nagas is an internal
matter. The majority of the Nagas that we spoke to
emphasised that the 'unity' issue should not be made
an excuse for delaying negotiations on matters of
substance. On the contrary, this insistence on the
position that 'first you get united and then we will
talk' raises the suspicion that the government is
taking advantage of a 'disunity' which was a direct
product of the system of 'rule through patronage' that
New Delhi has practised in the Naga areas during the
past five decades. Your excellency, the fear and
apprehensions about the impending breakdown in
ceasefire and renewal of armed conflict is widespread
and will be enormously damaging for our democratic
polity that is already reeling under various tensions
and tribulations. The fifty long years of armed
conflict against the Naga people have shown that there
can never be a military solution and, therefore, we as
a people, must firmly and finally reject any
suggestion that military suppression is a viable
option.

The Naga civil society through its "Journey of
Conscience" in January 2000 and the recent meeting of
civil society activists in Kohima has shown that the
people are determined to support the peace process,
provided the Government of India shows its sincerity
in starting substantive talks. Despite the enormity
of the crimes committed against the Naga people for
over fifty years, their generosity and grace show
their conviction and desire for a negotiated solution.
We in the rest of India can no longer escape the
consequence of a military suppression of the Naga
people, which throw away the nation's human and
material resources and carries the real danger of
subversion of our democratic process.
We appeal to you to use your influence and impress
upon the Government to desist from the disastrous
pursuit of a shortsighted military approach and to
begin talks at the highest level. The bureaucracy and
security forces must be subordinate to the political
authority. In accordance with the agreement reached
between the two parties, unconditional talks at the
highest level must commence soon lest the armed
conflict renews. Only this can ensure that the wishes
and aspirations of our people for a peaceful solution
are fulfilled and not allowed to be squandered by
forces that are inimical to our hard won freedom.


Surendra Mohan
Former M.P.

Neingulo Krome
Secretary General NPMHR
[mailto:freenagalim@yahoo.com]

On behalf of 133 Members of Indian as well as Naga
Civil Society groups who participated in the meeting
on human rights, justice and the Naga Peace Process
held from 14th to 19th March 2001

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