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US Congressman, NGOs wants Muviah's release

Nitin Gogoi in Guwahati

A US Congressman, several NGOs attached to the UN and the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation -- UNPO -- have jointly appealed to the Thailand government to ensure the release of a guerrilla leader from India's northeast.

Th Muivah, general secretary of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland, widely regarded as the most powerful insurgent group in the northeast, has been under arrest in Thailand since December on charges of having traveled on a fake passport.

Benjamin A Gilman, chairman of the Committee on International Relations in the United States House of Representatives, has written to Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai pointing out that Muivah's arrest has put peace talks between the Indian government and the separatist NSCN at risk. 'Any delay in releasing Muivah would be a tragedy if the ceasefire or the negotiations were to break down,' Gilman wrote to the Thai premier.

The nearly three-year-old peace process in Nagaland -- a state which has witnessed insurgency for half-a-century -- is currently engulfed in uncertainty in the wake of Muivah's arrest. Over 2,000 NSCN cadres are currently housed in makeshift camps in Nagaland. The ceasefire between the group and the government, put into effect in July 1997, is due to expire this July.

Apart from Representative Gilman, the steering committee of UNPO, a sort of parallel UN for disgruntled nationalities, has also written to Leekpai. 'We appeal to you to release the jailed Naga leaders since we are convinced that a military solution is not possible in Nagaland and that dialogue, understanding and patience are the only possible ways to move forward,' the steering committee said.

Several NGOs attached to the UN in Geneva and working for human rights has also pitched in with an appeal to the Thai government. 'With Muivah's arrest, the peace process between the Government of India and the NSCN has stalled and is in danger of collapsing. If war breaks out as a result of Muivah's detention it would cause heavy suffering to humanity and destabilise the region,' the appeal said.

Meanwhile, a rival NSCN faction led by S S Khaplang and Kitovi Zhimomi offered a ceasefire with the Centre on Sunday.

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