PM urged to intervene in Naga peace talks

Kohima, Oct 29 (PTI) Naga civil society organisations have questioned the Centre''s sincerity towards resolving the protracted Naga political conflict and urged the Prime Minister to expedite the current peace talks.
In a memorandum to PM Manmohan Singh, apex tribal council Naga Hoho, Naga Mothers'' Association (NMA) and Naga Students'' Federation (NSF) yesterday said that the Centre has a "lackadaisical attitude towards the Naga political problem."
They urged him to carry forward the ongoing peace dialogue, to bring out a logical conclusion at the earliest, and unconditionally release all Naga political prisoners and detainees arrested during the ceasefire period.
NSCN (I-M) entered into a ceasefire with the Centre in 1997 and NSCN (K) also followed the same in 2001, and so far over 60 rounds of talks were held between the NSCN(I-M) leaders of the Centre''s representatives.
"Enough representations and memorandum have been submitted to the Government of India by various Naga people''s organisations, civil societies and political parties from all Naga areas supplemented by occasional meetings with different prime ministers to expedite the Naga peace talks for a peaceful settlement to the vexed political problem," the organisations said.
A vital setback which may weigh down the peace process is the detention and arrest of Naga national workers by different government agencies under various acts and laws, they said.