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NSCN sore with India for not trying to get Muivah freed

Our Correspondent

Negotiations between the Centre and the insurgent National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isa-Muivah) have made not any headway in the last six months because the Centre has not done anything to secure the release of NSCN (I-M) general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah, who is imprisoned in Thailand.

NSCN (I-M) chairman Isak Chishi Swu said, "Prominent Indian leaders, including three former prime ministers - Chandra Shekhar, H D Deve Gowda and V P Singh - and intellectuals like Rajinder Sachar [former chief justice of the Delhi high court], Surendra Mohan [former MP], Swami Agnivesh [Bonded Labour Liberation Front], and Nandita Haksar have been supporting us. So far, however, no government officials have helped us."

Swu was speaking to Northeast Vigil, a fortnightly, non-profit, mediawatch ezine on the northeast catering to the needs of researchers and scholars looking for news on the region. This is the first time the NSCN (I-M) chairman has spoken to the Indian media after the arrest.

Swu, who is in constant touch with Muivah, said his organisation has requested the Thai government to release him. Many international organisations, including the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, have urged his early release, he said.

A symposium of the Thai Friends of the Nagas urged both the Thai and Indian governments to recognise Muivah as an essential participant in the Indo-Naga peace negotiations and demanded his immediate release.

Among those who made the appeal were Somchai Hamlaor, secretary general, Forum Asia; Menelaos G Tzelios, general secretary, International Federation for the Protection of the Rights of Ethnic, Religious, Linguistic and other Minorities, US; Luingam Luithui, secretary general, Asia Indigenous People's Pact; Christian Erni, International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs; Frans Welman, Indigenous Council, The Netherlands; Valentino Dolara, Documentation Center for Threatened People, Italy, and a representative of the Burma Lawyers' Council.

On Muivah's arrest, the NSCN (I-M) chairman said, "We have learnt from a reliable source that Indian intelligence agents tipped-off Thai immigration officers," and maintained that "he tried to jump bail in order to attend a meeting in Europe with the representatives of the Indian government."

When asked how Muivah could be arrested in a country where he had been living for so many years, Swu said, "He was not living in Thailand. He used to visit the kingdom as a tourist from time to time." He categorically asserted that the NSCN (I-M) had no links with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, but said, "We maintain a friendly attitude towards all our neighbouring countries, including China."

On being asked whether it had been a ploy by India to have Muivah removed from the talks so the Indians do not have to contend with a formidable negotiator, he replied, "We are interested in the peace process and we do not look on the Indian government as an enemy. We do not know if it was a ploy to remove Muivah from the negotiations."

Regarding allegations that the Indians were trying to divide the NSCN (I-M) rank and file, he said that the Indian government would not be so childish as to play such games during talks.

Muivah was arrested on January 19 this year while travelling from Karachi to Bangkok on a fake South Korean passport. He was, however, released on bail only to be re-arrested on January 30 while trying to take a flight to Bonn via Amsterdam from Hatyai airport in south Thailand. Muivah was on his way to Bonn for the peace talks with the Indian government. Muivah has since been sentenced to one year's imprisonment for trying to jump bail.

Thereafter, the talks between the Centre and the NSCN (I-M) came to a standstill.

The ceasefire agreement between the two sides, which has been in force since August 1, 1997, was extended for one more year Monday.

RELATED REPORT Government rejects NSCN demand on ceasefire

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