Kohima, May 10: The Congress in Nagaland has said that disarming of Naga underground organisations, involved in peace talks, should not be a pre-condition before a final settlement is arrived at. Reacting to the centre's emissary, K Padmanabhaiah's reported statement that the government was thinking of disarming the NSCN before the next round of talks, Congress legislators meeting in Dimapur yesterday said that any such pre-condition would amount to ''total surrender'' by the negotiating parties. The meeting resolved that imposition of such pre-conditions would ''hurt sentiments'' of the Naga people and asked the centre to tackle the issue with political foresight, sincerity and determination.
The legislators said that the NSCN (I-M) had already threatened to pull back from the peace process unless the chief negotiator withdrew his statement. They maintained that issues like disarming and disbanding of underground groups should be a part of the final agreement with the centre and that the same yardstick should be applied to all organisations involved in the peace process. Bureau Report