NNPGs slam NPF for ‘sabotaging’ Naga peace process, reject oil exploration MoU with Assam

Kohima, June 20: The Working Committee of the Naga National Political Groups (WC, NNPGs) has launched a sharp attack on the Naga People’s Front (NPF), accusing the party of repeatedly undermining efforts to secure an Indo-Naga political settlement and rejecting the June 11 oil exploration Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the governments of Nagaland and Assam with the Union Petroleum Ministry.

In a strongly worded statement, the conglomeration of 11 Naga National Political Groups alleged that while the Centre under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah has remained committed to resolving the Naga political issue, the NPF has consistently acted as a “saboteur” despite projecting itself as a facilitator.

The WC-NNPGs pointed to the 2015 Framework Agreement signed between the Government of India and NSCN(IM) and the 2017 Agreed Position signed with the NNPGs, asserting that negotiations have already concluded and the broad parameters of a political settlement have been established.

According to the committee, the NPF opposed key developments in the peace process at crucial moments. It is alleged that in 2017, party leaders discouraged members of the Nagaland Gaon Bura Federation from meeting the Prime Minister to press for an early solution. The WC further claimed that the NPF campaigned for the removal of former interlocutor R.N. Ravi in 2021 and later celebrated his exit as an achievement of the People’s Democratic Alliance government.

The NNPGs also took exception to recent demands by NPF leaders for the appointment of a political interlocutor to resume negotiations, arguing that such calls ignore the fact that talks have already been concluded.

The committee additionally condemned remarks by an NPF legislator targeting the “Fed Up Nagas” movement, saying educated and unemployed Naga youth have every right to demand answers and seek an early political settlement.

On the contentious June 11 oil exploration MoU, the WC-NNPGs declared that no Naga political negotiator had authorised any government or political party to enter into agreements concerning crude oil or other natural resources in Naga ancestral lands.

Maintaining that ownership and extraction of natural resources remain part of the negotiated political agenda with the Government of India, the committee said any MoU, joint venture or profit-sharing arrangement signed before a final settlement amounts to “hijacking” the future economic interests of the Naga people.

The WC also insisted that the disputed belt between Nagaland and Assam must first be demarcated, as allegedly agreed in principle during negotiations, before any resource-related agreement can be implemented.

While directing most of its criticism at the NPF, the committee expressed hope that the BJP leadership in Nagaland would continue to support an “honourable and acceptable” political solution in line with commitments repeatedly made by the Prime Minister and Home Minister.

The statement was issued by the Media Cell of the WC, NNPGs, which represents 11 Naga National Political Groups engaged in the Naga peace process.

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