Bizarre but proper

of view, it is most unfortunate that the choice is limited in such a large proportion of the seats to one and elsewhere to two or three. All the regional parties have decided not to contest the polls under the mistaken impression that such a course of action will hasten the so-called peace process set in motion by the Centre’s stated inclination to hold talks with the Issac-Muviah faction of the National Socialist Council ofNagaland (NSCN).

Little has been revealed about the agenda or progress of those negotiations. In any case after the dissolution of the Lok Sabha, the whole matter would have to be suspended until a new government is formed at the Centre. Such considerations do not appear to have weighed with the NSCN which called for a boycott of the elections in Nagaland and threatened those who participated with death. Although that threat was later withdrawn and the NSCN promised to maintain a ceasefire after the initial three-month period expired, regional parties thought it wise to steer clear of the elections. In Manipur where polls are being held for two Lok Sabha seats and where the NSCN is active, campaigning has been affected in three districts. But politicians who are under pressure have so far resisted demands to resign from the Assembly.

The NSCN’s tactics are obvious and ought to be defeated. Having at long last received tacit recognition of its political importance from the Centre which is what thepossibility of talks implies the NSCN proposes to guard its status by denying any kind of legitimacy to any other organisation. This is quite wrong and the abstaining political parties should know it. One of the major hazards of talking to extremists is precisely the situation that has arisen in Nagaland. Outfits banned or excluded because of their use of violent methods tend to gain clout at the expense of elected representatives once the process of negotiations begins. True, the NSCN phenomenon cannot be explained without reference to unattended popular grievances over a long period of time and the failure of the political class to resolve them. But after all is said and done, it is not only the ends that matter; the means to those ends matter very much too. That is why it is essential to carry on with the polls even under these aberrant conditions. The people of Nagaland and Manipur must know that there is no alternative in the short or long term to elections and that the Election Commission intends tocomplete the process and to ensure that peace will prevail during polling.