Nyay Patra: Congress promises final solution to Naga insurgency and more

 The Congress ensures in its guarantees for the North Eastern States that a final solution and agreement will be entered...

Digital Desk: The Congress has unveiled its manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha election, which includes promises to create jobs, expand infrastructure, and conduct a nationwide caste census.

Mallikarjun Kharge, the party's president, unveiled the manifesto in Delhi, accompanied by senior leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram, who headed the team that wrote the document, was also present.

The Congress ensures in its guarantees for the North Eastern States that a “final solution and agreement will be entered into with the Naga groups on the basis of the preliminary agreement that had been agreed in 2013-14”.

The Naga Peace Accord is a peace deal signed on August 3, 2015, by the Government of India and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) to end the insurgency in the state of Nagaland in northeast India. R. N. Ravi, the government's intermediary for Naga Peace Talks, signed on behalf of the Government of India, while Lt. Isak Chishi Swu, Chairman, and Thuingaleng Muivah, General Secretary, signed on behalf of the NSCN, in the presence of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The talks between the Centre and the NSCN-IM have lasted more than two decades, but the peace process remains stalled due to the outfit's demand for a separate Naga national flag and constitution in acknowledgement of the "Naga history spanning over 70 years."

While the peace talks were allegedly ended by the Centre's deadline of October 2019, the NSCN-IM reportedly stated in July last year that there is "no documentary evidence" to corroborate it.

The government then released a statement emphasising that any agreement with the Naga groups would be achieved only after negotiations with all parties, including the adjacent states of Manipur, Assam, and Arunachal Pradesh.

What is for other Northeastern states?

The party claims in this section that it will fix the rifts among the communities and promptly remove the current Manipur state government. “We will appoint a Reconciliation Commission to bring about a political and administrative settlement that will be satisfactory to all the people of the state,” it adds. The Congress further declares that it will guarantee suitable reparations and compensation for the Manipur conflict's victims and survivors.

In addition, the guarantees for the NE states stipulate that the infrastructure deficit in the NE states will be reviewed and more funding will be provided for infrastructure development. “We will support border trade and make every effort to increase the volume and value of such trade.”