ABSTRACT
The framework agreement between the Government of India and the dominant faction of the National Socialist council of Nagaland, led by Isak Swu and Th. Muivah, arrived at on 3 August last year, is another attempt to untangle the intricate skein of the Naga web. The Naga movement, which predates India’s independence, has at its heart the issue of Naga identity in relation to not only the Indian state but also the neighbouring tribes. The Naga insurgency has passed through different phases alternating between periods of strife and relative peace. The demands of the Nagas have received consideration at the highest levels in Delhi with Pandit Nehru and Smt. Gandhi personally parlaying with Naga delegations and as many as five other prime minister meeting them including some on foreign soil. Delhi’s negotiation strategies have varied between firmness and appeasement and the fact that some of the core issues, such as sovereignty and territorial integration, remain unresolved as yet is testament of the complexity of the problem. Though the locus of the problem has since shifted to the Naga-inhabited areas of Manipur, the fragmented nature of the Naga insurgency raises questions regarding finality of any agreement arrived at with a single outfit. The wisdom of continuing with the talks, now ongoing for over eighteen years, has thus been open to debate.
