Kohima, Jan 16: The tripartite talks on the formation of Frontier Nagaland Territory (FNT) comprising six eastern districts of the state were held in Chumoukedima district of the state on Wednesday, officials said.
The around five-hour-long meeting was held among the ENPO, a Naga organisation that has been demanding a separate state comprising those six districts, the Centre and the state government.
The ENPO, which last month said it has “temporarily” accepted the Centre’s proposal for a mechanism in which the region will be granted a certain level of autonomy, said after the meeting that the talks were on the right track and the progress was positive.
ENPO president A Chingmak Chang said several key issues were discussed but those cannot be disclosed now.
“Without the financial, executive and legislative autonomy, we cannot sign any agreement,” said the ENPO leader who attended the closed-door meeting at the Police Complex in Chumoukedima.
At the meeting, the Centre was represented by A K Mishra while Chief Secretary J Alam and other officers attended it on behalf of the Nagaland government, officials said.
Chang said his organisation has sought formation of a “central battalion” in the security force to address the issue of unemployment.
At the meeting, he also said that the existing system of village guards mostly deployed in the eastern part of Nagaland needs to be modernised.
This proposal was accepted by the government, the ENPO chief claimed.
“We could not come to a conclusion on certain issues. We hope that the government is serious and the solutions will be acceptable and honourable to the people of Eastern Nagaland,” he said.
The ENPO chief expressed hope that the next meeting on the issue of FNT will be held “very soon”.
Alleging that the Eastern Nagaland areas have been neglected in all sectors since the creation of Nagaland state in 1963, the ENPO has been demanding a separate state since September 2010.
Pressing for its demand, the organisation boycotted the Lok Sabha and Urban Local Body polls last year.
ENPO is the apex body of the Naga tribes in six eastern districts of Nagaland – Mon, Tuensang, Longleng, Kiphire, Noklak and Shamator – that will comprise the proposed FNT.
These districts are home to eight tribes – Chang, Khiamniungan, Konyak, Phom, Sangtam, Tikhir, Yimkhiung and also a section of Sema.(PTI)
