Naga peace convention begins, factions not to fight

The groups of NSCN have agreed to abstain from fighting and maintain ceasefire at least for next the one week in view of the two-day Naga convention for peace and reconciliation which begins here on Saturday evening.

Office bearers of Forum for Naga Re-conciliation (FNR), the organiser of the convention at Kohima local ground, said both NSCN(I-M) and GPRN/NSCN had agreed to abstain from any armed clashes and maintain ceasefire from February 20-28.

The convention aims at making the ongoing peace and reconciliation campaign more exclusive, inviting all Naga tribes and churches of different denominations from Naga-inhabited areas of North-East.

FNR, comprising churches, tribal hohos (councils) and civil society organisations, had initiated the campaign "Naga Reconciliation: A Journey of Common Hope" a year ago at the height of factional killings among underground groups in Nagaland to bring an end to the situation so that the Nagas can present a unified voice to resolve the decades-long Naga political conflict through dialogues.

Since then the Forum had a series of consultations with leaders of rival underground factions and organised many events bringing in cadres from rival camps to a common platform, resulting in scaling down of killings in the state.