Nagaland governor's activities created "huge trust deficit" on

The NSCN(IM) on Sunday claimed that Nagaland Governor R N Ravis use of words such as "armed gangs" to identify Naga political groups and direction to state government staffers to self-declare if they have relatives with links to any such organisation has created a "huge trust deficit" on the Centre.

The NSCN(IM) on Sunday claimed that Nagaland Governor R N Ravis use of words such as "armed gangs" to identify Naga political groups and direction to state government staffers to self-declare if they have relatives with links to any such organisation has created a "huge trust deficit" on the Centre. On the eve of the fifth anniversary of the signing of the Framework Agreement between the central government and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isaac-Muivah), the organisation alleged that the pact has been "put in cold storage".

Ravi was also the Centre's interlocutor for the Naga peace talks and he had signed the Framework Agreement on August 3, 2015, in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Efforts to get the governors response on the assertions of the NSCN(IM) proved futile.

Ravi "went beyond the call of the interlocutor to indulge himself in playing divisive games among the Nagas to dismantle the very foundation of Framework Agreement. This has, therefore, created a huge trust deficit on the GoI (Government of India)," the NSCN(IM) said in a statement. In an indictment of the Neiphiu Rio government, the governor in a letter on June 16 said that "armed gangs" were brazenly running their own governments in the state challenging the legitimacy of its elected authority and creating a "crisis of confidence" in the system.

Ravi, a retired IPS officer who was a special director in the Intelligence Bureau, had warned that he would promulgate Article 371A(1)(b) of the Constitution, which gives the Nagaland governor special responsibility with respect to law and order, if things did not improve. Following his instruction, the Nagaland government has directed all its employees to self-declare by August 7 whether they have family members or relatives with links to any Naga underground organisation.

Rio had said that his government does not want any confrontation with the governor on the Naga political issue but hopes to work together to find an early solution to the problem. The NSCN(IM) statement said that the Framework Agreement concluded with a statement that its "execution plan will be worked out and implemented shortly" but it "has been put in cold storage" after five years.

"What has been mutually agreed upon should be honoured in letter and spirit and that is the only way forward," the statement said. The Framework Agreement came after over 80 rounds of negotiations spanning 18 years, with the first breakthrough made in 1997 when the ceasefire agreement was sealed after decades of insurgency in Nagaland which started soon after India's independence in 1947.