National

Going Dutch

It's a significant first for India. A Dutch NGO boss may play the 'third party' in the Naga talks.

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Going Dutch
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What many seem to have missed out is the open admission by Kreddha about its role as a 'facilitator'. "Kreddha is quietly and confidentially facilitating negotiations between the leaders of a major armed independence movement in a country in Asia and the government of that country," the organisation says on its website (kreddha.org). "It has facilitated the first and all subsequent meetings between the prime minister of the country in question and his representatives and the leaders of the self-determination movement," the group says.

Now who is Praag, and what is Kreddha? While Praag has been identified as an international lawyer, Kreddha claims to be an organisation committed to "prevention and resolution of violent conflicts between population groups and states".

Praag and his wife visited Nagaland in April 2003 and was presented with a memorandum dated April 19, 2003, and signed by 11 members of the Senior Citizens' Forum of Mokokchung, a district town. As foreigners are required to obtain a special travel document (the Restricted Area Permit) to visit Nagaland, it's likely that New Delhi had cleared Praag's visit to the state.

It's been eight years since the NSCN(I-M) and New Delhi entered into talks after a ceasefire came into effect on August 1, '97. But a deadlock ensued over the NSCN(I-M)'s insistence on the integration of the Naga areas in the Northeast into a Greater Nagalim. This demand has been vehemently opposed by Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh, and it is in this backdrop that reports of New Delhi seeking help from a possible 'facilitator' to break the stalemate have gained credence.

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