BESIDES I and M there is a J and there is a K. That is the beauty and in it lays the trouble. And it’s a trouble everyone wants to resolve but no one has a clue, not even the distant D and not so distant P. Well ditto for C and H. Your guess is right my dear reader: peace is a political football for some and a turf war for some others.

Yes, it is a pity that turmoil has become the order of the day when the focus has to be zeroed in on Delhi- IM dialogue, and the battle of the ballot, which is not far away.  Blame game doesn’t lead anyone anywhere. The logjam will remain unless of course, a deliberate, calibrated approach is made by all concerned in the Biblical spirit of forgive and forget, give and take and universal spirit of brotherhood. Sadly, there is a premium on reconciliation in Nagaland.

The K has become very vocal in its protests against Th. after so many years of working together till ego clashes set them apart. The cold war vocabulary like hegemony was not a part of the lexicon of K. Today it is. The question is why it is so. Why the urge to disown Thangkuls and to distance from the Thangkuls?

The Kilonser (Minister) of the outfit’s information and publicity department, Kughalu has been saying that the ongoing moves to unite the Naga society would bear fruit only if a ‘certain tribe from Manipur’ are excommunicated from the Naga society. Why? “Because, they are habitual criminals who disturb peace and tranquillity!”

It was in the middle of this year that a ‘change in the demeanour’ was discernable, courtesy Sumi Hoho. True, even then, Tongmath Wanfmao, the one holding the K purse strings, was forthright to remind his interlocutors of what had happened in September 2000,   when the two factions had set out for consultation but was graciously generous to remark: ‘we all must repent for past mistakes and must display the spirit to forget and forgive to usher in lasting peace’.

This was a short-lived phase. Sporadic fratricidal clashes and differences over ‘Nagalim’ have made the two factions hostage to the past and the present, even as the future continued to beckon them in right earnestness. Undoubtedly, the fault-lines are deeper and the clash over ‘Nagalim’ is only a symptom.

The K has made a scathing attack on its rival faction’s claim for ‘Nagalim’ (Greater Nagaland) saying that it has nothing to do with the Naga struggle for the sovereignty. About the ongoing dialogue with D, the NSCN (K) opined: “If a section of separatists want unity, peace and reconciliation with India but not with the Nagas, then the Naga Hoho and the NGOs must resist such efforts”. The NSCN (K) also ridiculed the choice of Zoramthanga, the Mizoram Chief Minister to act as mediator, because in its considered view, ‘he is someone who had surrendered to India’.

Muivah saw red everywhere in D and J and what have you. He not only accused the Government of India of trying to hijack the Naga peace process in collusion with S. C. Jamir, but also held North Block   guilty of backing out of the commitment to ‘contain’ the  Khaplang group. NSCN (I M) general secretary alleged that the Khaplang boys were at large and were being used by the paramilitary forces and RAW with the Nagaland Chief Minister calling the shots from behind, actively attacking and killing others to sabotage the peace process. The message, rather the warning was unambiguous: The K would face dire consequences ‘if  they don’t give up anti-IM activities in Zunheboto’.

The irony is Zunheboto is the peace zone for three years running. It has the highest concentration of militants too. Both chairman Issac Chisi Swu (IM) and general secretary Kitovi Zhimomi (K) hail from this area, which has been witness to lot of bloodshed. Reality, and not the question, who drew the blood first, is important. The harsh reality is both sides suffered causalities.

For the K, it is retaliation time as it feels that its grip over Zunheboto was slackening. Ignoring appeals and warnings from the administration, the Khaplang faction launched an economic blockade in the district to get even with the IM. This is not the first time though to clamp a ‘blockade’. NSCN (K) resorted to this tactic in this very district twice in the past, in 1999 and 2000. The ruse this time was violation of ceasefire ground rules by the rival.  The factional feuds now reached a stage where both sides openly claimed credit for the casualty suffered by the other faction and held out threats that much worse was still to follow.

A new twist to the unfolding events was the charge from the Chief Ministers of Nagaland and Arunachal that the NSCN (IM) was destabilising their governments by trying to force the ministers and MLAs into withdrawing support. The outfit denied the allegation. Arunachal Pradesh is also perturbed over the ripple effect NSCN factional clashes have on the State. Because, the cadres of both groups are very active in the Tirap and Chamgling. Once this ‘territory’ was the monopoly of the K. Now, it is the IM which has a sway. Factional feuds have become a common occurrence.

After Muivah’s attack on the Centre, the NSCN (K) also launched a blistering tirade on the Vajpayee government:  “The Centre is playing foul with the Nagas by entering into a secret deal with its rival (IM) action. Without taking the aspirations of the Naga people into consideration, no solution is possible.”

The deputy Kilonser for information and publicity affairs Khugalu Munatone injected a new element. The NSCN (IM), according to him, has started canvassing for the forthcoming Assembly elections. He claims that the outfit has openly called for seat-sharing to grab power at a recent public meeting. Another charge: IM wants to change the name of the Nagaland Legislative Assembly to ‘Totar Hoho’. He said D must weigh the 35 demand of the IM with the ‘opinion and mandate of the Nagas’.

And then came the Khugalu Munatone bomb! The IM is in league with Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda, he declared with a dramatic flourish. Evidence of the nexus was the ‘disclosure’ made by a IM cadre who crossed over to K, he said.  It is from this source that the Khaplang faction is ‘convinced’ that Laden funds NSCN (IM).

Needless to say in this fusillade, the victim is Nagaland and its yawning for lasting peace so that the latent energies of its youth are not fritted away but canalized into building a society where factional rivalry and fratricidal killings are a thing of the past and where peace, harmony and order facilitate building of a new Nagaland that will be a role model for the rest of the region. As of now, hope is a flickering.

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