Former interlocutor on Naga talks, R N Ravi, has been appointed as the Nagaland governor. The announcement was made in a statement released by the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
R N Ravi is a former deputy national security advisor (NSA).
"The above appointments will take effect from the dates they assume charge of their respective offices," said a communique from the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The Centre, on Saturday, appointed six new Governors in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Nagaland and Tripura.
The Man with Many Crucial Roles to Play
Ravi is 1976-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the Kerala cadre.
Ravi has worked closely with National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval during the latter’s stint as Intelligence Bureau Director. While working with Ajit Doval at the Intelligence Bureau, he was in charge of the northeast desk. He retired as Intelligence Bureau Special Director in 2012.
He was then appointed by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) in 2014 as chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee for three years.
He is the government’s interlocutor for ongoing talks with Naga insurgent group National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM). He has been instrumental in bringing several groups together for the Naga peace accord.
Tryst with Northeast
On 3 August 2015, RN Ravi signed a framework agreement on behalf of the government of India with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak Muivah) (NSCN[IM]) to end the decades-old Naga insurgency.
On 17 November 2017, a second agreement was signed with the Working Committee (WC) of Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs). Till date, the contents of both agreements have been been kept under lock and key.
Ravi has been criticised for holding talks only with the NSCN-IM and not other groups, reported The Hindu. He had justified saying other groups didn’t come for the meetings and the NSCN-IM was the largest group representing the Nagas.
The NSCN-IM has been fighting for ‘Greater Nagaland’ or Nagalim — wants to extend the state’s borders by including Naga-dominated areas in Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh to unite 1.2 million Nagas - a move opposed by all the three states.
During Modi’s first tenure, Ravi had reportedly told that he had got clear directions from the Prime Minister that “Nagas should win” and the negotiations with the Naga group was “not a zero sum game,” said the media report.
Whether during the tenure of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru or Morarji Desai, Indira Gandhi or Narendra Modi, the Naga political movement has continued as one of the longest surviving political conflicts in Asia.
Speaking at the 12th Session of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, United Nations, Neingulo Krome, Secretary General, Naga Peoples Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR) said, the current interlocutor, RN Ravi managed to sign the 2015 Framework Agreement “but which has not been implemented so far, with some hiccups much to the discredit of India’s insincerity,” reported The Morung Express.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)