Greater question haunts states

The Centre may have succeeded in persuading the NSCN (I-M) to meet another day at another place but it will now have to take into confidence...

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The Centre may have succeeded in persuading the NSCN (I-M) to meet another day at another place but it will now have to take into confidence the governments of Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh on what transpired in the meetings with Thuingaleng Muivah and Isak Chishi Swu.

The three states are an affected party, suspicious about the extra mile the Centre would go to tide over a 50-year-old problem. So far they have been very vocal in saying a firm no-no to the NSCN (I-M) demand for Nagalim or Greater Nagaland which incorporates Naga areas of these states.

But there’s growing realisation in the state capitals that if peace has to be bought, some concessions will have to be made while keeping intact territorial integrity. In Imphal, the story doing the rounds is that the hill districts of Manipur, inhabited by the Nagas, may just be given more autonomy.

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Dispur too realises it will have to settle its age-old border problem with Nagaland which, in the past, has even had state police units clashing.

The insurgent demand for Nagalim is not new. Nor is the opposition to it. Two years ago, when the Centre announced it was extending the ceasefire with the NSCN (I-M) to Naga-inhabited areas outside Nagaland, Manipur went up in flames, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi was quick to attack the Union Home Ministry for ‘‘not being in touch with ground reality’’ and Mukut Mithi, his counterpart in Arunachal Pradesh, made no secret of his concern.

Muivah’s Nagalim includes not just Ukhrul, Tamenglong, Senapati and Chandel in Manipur but huge chunks of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh as well, if you ignore the demand for merger of Kachin state and Sagaing division in Myanmar.

In Assam, Nagalim embraces Karbi Anglong, North Cachar Hills and parts of the districts of Golaghat, Sibsagar, Nagaon, Jorhat, Dibrugarh and Tinsukia.

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In Arunachal Pradesh, it gobbles Dibang Valley, Lohit, Tirap and Changlang only to stop at the international boundary with China.

Nagalim’s advocates have long maintained that the south-east Himalayan region is the natural domain of the Nagas, abundantly rich in resources and potential.

They speak of their cadres panning for gold along the Chindwin in Myanmar ‘‘once or twice every year’’ and more gold awaiting extraction in Ukhrul’s Nungo area in the Wung Tangkhul belt. There are deposits of ruby, sapphire, jade, platinum and uranium. Rock salt too is available in plenty.

The NSCN’s Nagalim website, which can be accessed through http://www.angelfire.com, gives you an idea why they have another reason to want all Naga-inhabited areas. ‘‘Large reserves of high-grade limestone, viable coal reserves, petroleum deposits, metal deposits such as iron, chromium, nickel, cobalt, copper and molybdenum have been located. Good quality slate deposits and building materials like stone, boulders, marbles, have also been found. Sand in the Doyang valley (Lotha region), clay-koal in Khimba-Tabu and copper deposits in Khurmi region (Chandel district) have been reported,’’ reports the website.