Assam Congress chief casts doubts over Assam CM's proposed meeting with NSCN-IM
- Sep 21, 2021,
- Updated Sep 21, 2021, 12:21 AM IST
GUWAHATI: Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Bhupen Kumar Borah has expressed his 'mistrust' of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and also questioned CM Sarma's calibre to hold peace talks with the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN-IM).
"As a Chief Minister can he go and hold talks without taking the Assembly and Cabinet into confidence? The NSCN-IM is known to be a supporter of "Greater Nagalim" and for all, we know it is supposed to include parts of Assam," said APCC president Borah.
Borah slammed CM Sarma further and questioned, "Can the people of Assam trust Dr Sarma to defend Assam's interests when he had miserably failed to do so in the recent Mizoram Assam border issue? He had publicly said that he is ready to give the whole of Barak Valley and even Guwahati to Mizoram? Can Dr Sarma be trusted to defend Assam's interests in his talks with NSCN-IM when his blind allegiance to the Delhi BJP High Command's dictates are well known to all?"
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The peace talks between Centre and NSCN-IM resumed nearly after two years as former special director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) AK Mishra met the rebel outfit’s general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah in Dimapur yesterday. The centre is keen on solving the Naga imbroglio the soonest and Union Home Minister Amit Shah's mender Assam CM Himanta Biswa and his Nagaland counterpart Neiphiu Rio to meet Muivah for the same.
The peace accord, signed in 2015 between the Centre and the NSCN-IM, headed towards disaster after Naga Peace Talks Interlocutor and former Nagaland Governor RN Ravi allegedly circulated a doctored version of the framework of the same.
"Congress Party had demanded that the contents of the Framework Agreement should be made public but till today nobody knows what is in the Agreement," said Borah.
"Matters did not improve and the Framework Agreement appeared to be a "Discord Agreement" as public spats between leaders of NSC(I-M) and Governor Ravi became headlines of news reports. And now Mr Modi has removed Governor Ravi without resolving the Nagaland issue," Borah added further.
Borah also claimed that Manipur CM Biren Singh had decided not to participate in the talks due to differences on the "Greater Nagalim issue".
Borah in his statement further said, "The APCC thus views the act of participation of Dr Sarma in the talks with full of suspicion and mistrust and apprehends that Assam's interest may be compromised in the long run."
Borah also on behalf of the party has demanded from the Government of India to immediately put the contents of the Framework Agreement of 2015 in the public domain.