NET Web Desk

Nagaland, one of the three Christian-majority states in northeastern India, had rekindled new hope for peace as armed militant groups decided to speed up the peace process.

The decision was made in Dimapur, at a meeting between the Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, legislators from all parties, and leaders of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak Muivah (NSCN-IM).

The issue of the naga rebellion predates the independence of India in 1947 and is essentially based on the requirements of naga independence.

Like the rest of the Northeast, the mission of the Indian army was to contain the Naga insurgency in the late 1950s. Nagaland was declared a state in 1963 and has been swallowed by violence between security forces and militants ever since.

The Naga peace process between the government and NSCN-IM began in August 1997, and since then there have been several rounds of negotiations. Significant progress was made in October 2019, but when NSCN-IM leader Muivah proposed a separate flag and Constitution of nagas, both of these were categorically rejected by the Indian Govt.

“As and when the government of India invites us for signing the peace document, we will sit across because there will be only agreement and one solution,” NNPG leader N. Kitovi Zhimomi said.