NSCN-IM leadership in Nagaland

The arrival of the NSCN-IM leaders, Th. Muivah and Isak Chisi Swu on 14 December aroused enormous enthusiasm in Nagaland. The Northeast Herald (15 December) editorial, 'Homecoming raises hope', wrote: "After a span of seven years since the ceasefire was agreed upon by the GoI and the NSCN (IM) and since the first round of talks between the two sides, things appear to me moving on expected lines. It also appears that this is, perhaps, the best chance Nagas have had to put their heads together and hope for the best deal. However, as the destiny of the Nagas is in the hands of Nagas it is up to the Nagas to make use of this opportunity and put up a united stand." Commenting on the disunity among the Naga factions and the need for the NSCN-IM leadership to address the issue, the Nagaland Page (14 December) in its editorial, 'Hope Springs eternal', said: "It is hope that Swu and Muivah would lead in this quest for unity during their stay here. It is further hoped that the two leaders would also lead their followers in an inward soul-searching during this Holy Season for and in the greater interest of the Nagas."

Previously, The Imphal Free Press (15 December) editorial, 'Knotty Peace Prospect', dealt with the challenges to the Naga problem and opined, "At this juncture what is needed is an altogether new approach road to this vexing problem instead of doggedly insisting on walking the one that has failed to bring the destination anywhere in sight. Discussions on what should be this new roadmap would be much more imaginative, invigorating and fruitful too."

Negotiation with the ULFA

The untiring effort of the noted writer Indira Goswami to bring the ULFA to the negotiation table was appreciated by the The Assam Tribune (13 December), which in its editorial, 'ULFA's rejection', said: "The heartening feature of the entire episode is that Dr Goswami has still not given up hope and announced her decision to hold talks with the Prime Minister again to set the ball rolling and one hopes in the interest of Assam that both the Government of India and the ULFA leadership will adopt a give and take approach to bring an end to the problem of insurgency that has been haunting Assam for more than a quarter of a century."

Surrender of militants in Tripura

Surrender of the 138 militants belonging to the Nayanbashi faction of the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) on December 25 was an important development in Tripura. Tripura Times (26 December) in a front-page item said, "More than a decade-long insurgency ridden Tripura's search for peace got a shot in the arm when altogether 138 militants formally surrendered to governor D N Sahaya." On 30 December, Tripura Times, quoting Chief Minister Manik Sarkar's appeal to the people of the State, reported, "people of all sections of the State must hold up cudgels against the extremist forces to keep them at bay."

Review committee for the AFSPA

The arrival of the 5-member committee constituted by the Union government to review the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in Manipur on 27 December  dominated the media headlines in the last week of the month. The Sangai Express (29 December) in its editorial, 'Inputs and Outputs', said: "The very fate of Manipur in the near future will depend a lot on what the Committee comes up with within the six months time frame set by the Prime Minister to submit the report." Appreciating the stand of the Apunba Lup which chose to boycott the committee The Imphal Free Press (28 December) editorial, 'Us and them of AFSPA', said: "After all, indignation is an understandable sentiment to the insensitivity innate in the very act of instituting an inquiry to determine public opinion on an issue that has seen volumes of literature, extreme and desperate forms of protests." At the same time the editorial called upon for prevalence of better sense and said, "But it is time to let bygones be bygones and make a beginning in bridging the distance and we do feel this panel can be this beginning."

NE's alienation

The people of the northeast have always complained of alienation resulting out of the ignorance of the region by people from mainland India. An example was provided by a front-page news item in the Manipur based English daily, The Imphal Free Press (15 December) which commented on the lack of knowledge of the northeast by experts assembled in a seminar in Kolkata, the report 'Kolkata NE experts show no clue of NE or SE Asia' said, "Even though the north east region of India remains a major conflict zone of south east Asia with a high degree of forced migration both internally as well as cross border, the resource persons delivering lectures about the situation displayed a woeful lack of knowledge of the historical background of the region, and failed to establish the origins of the conflicts and the reasons behind the forced migration within the region."