By Syed Zarir Hussain, IANS
Dimapur (Nagaland) : A frontline Naga separatist group in northeast India Sunday clamped an “emergency” with the group’s topmost quartet assuming total control of the organisation to quell “internal unrest” and prevent heavy extortion of money by some deserters, a rebel leader said.
The Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland faction headed by Isak Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah (NSCN-IM) has placed its ‘Tatar Hoho’ or parliament in suspended animation and has vested full powers on its chairman Swu, general secretary Muivah, vice-chairman Khodao Yanthan, and military chief ‘Maj. Gen.’ Markson.
“The reason why we decided to enforce emergency was due to some sort of internal unrest leading to peace being disturbed after some 50 cadres with arms and ammunition deserted us under the leadership of our former home minister Azheto Chophy,” V. Horam, senior NSCN-IM leader and steering committee member of the outfit, told IANS over the phone from an undisclosed location.
The NSCN-IM, pressing for a Naga homeland in northeast India, has been engaged in peace talks with the Indian government ever since the group entered into a ceasefire agreement with New Delhi in July 1997.
Over the years, the group appears to be keen on unifying the Naga-inhabited areas in the states of Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh with the Naga-majority state of Nagaland.
The former NSCN-IM leader Azheto last month held talks with the rival NSCN-Khaplang group, announced the merger of the two factions, and renamed the outfit as NSCN. This development indicated that all was not well within the NSCN-IM and that the group was witnessing internal dissent.
“We are also for unification of the NSCN factions. But Azheto took the decision of holding talks with the NSCN-K without the approval of the collective leadership,” Horam said. He accused Azheto and his group of indulging in “undesirable activities”.
“In the last one month, the group led by Azheto extorted money to the tune of Rs. 100 million, besides leading to a serious law and order problem around Dimapur and other parts, forcing us to clamp an emergency,” Horam said.
He said the “emergency” is an attempt to streamline the state of affairs within the outfit with the army and other departments performing their tasks like before. The powers of all the NSCN-IM “ministers” have been curtailed following the “emergency”, and the “National Security Council” headed by Swu and Muivah will look after the day-to-day running of the group’s affairs.
The NSCN-IM has a well-structured administrative machinery, complete with a parliament, ministers, an army and a law-enforcing set up. It acts like a parallel government in so far as running the organization is concerned.
The NSCN-IM leader said imposition of “emergency” by his organization would not impact on the ceasefire and peace talks with New Delhi.
“The ceasefire with the government of India has nothing to do with the imposition of emergency by us as this is purely an internal matter. There is no need for the people to panic,” Horam said.