The NSCN (I-M) leaders seem to be giving second thoughts to their scheduled visit to India in the last week of November. They feel that the Government has been encouraging rival Naga groups NSCN (K) and the NNC, and even helping the latter acquire arms. Keen for the NSCN (I-M) to keep its date with India, the government is making all efforts to assure them that they are negotiating the peace process only with their group. In fact, going out of its way, the government has asked insurgent leaders Isaak Chisi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah to pass on any credible information about these groups or about their procurement of weapons to it, so that the matter can be investigated thoroughly. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is taking a personal interest in the process, sources said.The NSCN (I-M) leaders had announced, following their talks with the Centre in Bangkok in September, that they will come to India and spend a couple of months, meeting the political leadership and talking to people in Nagaland. However, the government was more than a little concerned when the group expressed its reservations.Sources said the Centre’s interlocutor K. Padmanabhaiah has been in regular touch with insurgent leaders, conveying to them that ‘‘there can be no logic or reason for the government or its agencies to support a small group like NNC (Phizo’s Naga National Council) or the NSCN (K).’’When contacted, Padmanabhaiah confirmed that the NSCN (I-M) leaders had expressed their concerns, which had been taken seriously and were being addressed. ‘‘The NSCN (I-M) should not have any doubts about the government’s sincerity in finding a peaceful solution. There is no question of government encouraging other Naga groups when the talks are only with the NSCN (I-M), and they are also at a delicate stage. There is no reason for government to jeopardise them,’’ he said.One of the leaders of NSCN (K) had recently accused the I-M faction of giving up the Naga cause and having sold out to the Indian government. Muivah had alleged that the K group was being encouraged and facilitated by government agencies. Moreover, he also felt that the NNC was being helped by the government in procurement of arms.
