Imchen, who was recently in news for his comments on the Naga political issue, came down heavily on the Centre on Tuesday for inordinate delay on the issue despite several rounds of talks with the militant group. "We are not satisfied with statehood only," he said during a function of the Naga Peoples' Front (NPF), organized to felicitate the newly elected NPF MLA from Aonglenden constituency.
Imchen criticized the Centre for "ignoring" the issue for 50 years. He recalled that some people signed a 16-point agreement, granting statehood and creating the 16th state of the Indian Union, without taking the consent of Naga militants. The home minister wondered how the Naga plebiscite was conducted by the Naga National Council in 1951 where 99.9% people voted for "sovereignty" and subsequently rejected the 1952 general elections.
He questioned as to why NNC leader A Z Phizo was not invited for talks with the Centre for negotiation. He added that the Centre, instead, had dialogue with the Naga People's Convention (NPC) from August 1947, ending up with the 16-point agreement giving special status to Nagas under Article 371 (A) of the Constitution, which is "much lower than the special status given to Jammu and Kashmir."
On the current parleys between the Centre and the NSCN (IM), the home minister said, "It is not a peace process, but political talks with the government."