By Ranjit Devraj
NEW DELHI, Sep 21 2000 (IPS)

The release of a north-east Indian rebel leader from a Thai jail, has boosted chances of tackling a violent secessionist campaign in India, say close observers of this country’s oldest insurgency.

Naga leader, Thuingaleng Muivah’s freedom from a Thai prison has cleared the way for resuming peace talks with the tribal Naga rebels, who run a parallel government in north-eastern Nagaland state, they say.

The talks were snapped following his arrest early this year in Thailand on the charge of travelling on a false passport.

“We hope that the talks can now continue,” said Athili, a member of the Naga People’s Movement for Human Rights.

Some 25,000 people are estimated to have been killed in the violent Naga separatist campaign, which began soon after India’s independence from British colonial rule in the year 1947.

Several rounds of talks have been held between the secessionist outfit and Indian negotiators at several places outside the country, since the rebels agreed to a cease-fire in July 1997.

But there has been little headway so far. The cease-fire, disrupted by alleged violations on both sides, was extended several times. It was extended again in July, when Indian government negotiators met Muivah’s colleagues in the Thai capital Bangkok.

Muivah is highly popular among the Naga people and is the undisputed leader of the powerful Isacc-Muivah faction of the rebel outfit, the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN).

Matters got complicated for the peace talks between the NSCN and Indian negotiators when he tried to jump bail and was re-arrested while trying to flee Thailand.

According to Deena Dayalan of the South Asia Forum for Human Rights, Muivah’s release was a positive sign for the peace talks.

“What is important now is that Naga civil society must be involved in the talks,” he said.

Indian newspapers quoted unnamed senior government officials as saying that it would take some two to three weeks to resume the talks with the Naga rebels.

“Muivah’s release also brings back several unresolved items of the cease-fire, the most important being to make the NSCN include not only the security forces but also civilians under the temporary peace pact,” said ‘The Indian Express’ newspaper.

Government officials associated with the peace talks told the daily that “by not doing so, the NSCN is going about gleefully extorting money and killing people in the state.”

An obstacle to the talks has already been placed by the demand by Muivah’s NSCN faction, to extend the area of the cease-fire to the north-eastern states adjoining Nagaland.

The rebels had earlier threatened to end the cease-fire if the government did not agree, by Sep. 15, to extend it to all areas inhabited by Nagas. This would cover areas in the adjoining north-eastern Indian states of Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.

The government replied it would first have to consult the state governments concerned. However, newspapers reported that the other north-eastern states with Naga populations have rejected this demand.

The government is also worried that accepting this demand would be perceived as giving legitimacy to the Naga claim for a separate home.

The rebels want to set up a new Naga nation, called ‘Nagalim’ that would include parts of neighbouring Burma and have a population of some three million people.

When they resume, the talks would also be clouded by allegations by the Indian government that the NSCN has violated the cease-fire on several occasions. According to the Indian Home Ministry, the rebels carried out 536 political murders during the cease-fire.

The Indian government has also indirectly accused the rebels of a link with Pakistani intelligence agencies. The Home Ministry has emphasised the fact that Muivah had flown to Bangkok from the southern Pakistan city of Karachi.

India accuses Pakistan of not only encouraging the violent insurgency in Kashmir, but also fomenting trouble in India’s rebellious north- eastern region.

Naga representatives also say the cease-fire has not worked. According to Akum Longchari, a leader of the Naga People’s Movement for Human Rights, this has failed to “bring any concrete progress toward a solution, but instead enhanced a sense of misunderstanding and mistrust.”

A quarter century ago, a section of the rebels gave up the fight and accepted the Indian Constitution under an accord with the Indian government.

The Naga armed rebellion has since then been led mainly by Muivah’s NSCN faction based in north-east India. A rival Naga faction operates from Burma.

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