The National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) on Sunday blamed Governor RN Ravi and his “deceptive manner” of handling of the Framework Agreement for driving the people of Nagaland away from peace talks. Ravi is the Centre’s interlocutor in the ongoing talks with Naga rebel outfits for a peace accord.

In a statement released to mark mark five years of the agreement signed between the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah), the rebel outfit said that Ravi had “deceitfully went beyond the call of interlocutor to indulge himself in playing a divisive game among the Nagas to dismantle the very foundation of FA”.

It said that when agreement was signed in 2015 under the “dynamic leadership” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, there was much hype and anticipation in the political circle. But five years down the line the “scourge of manipulation, misinterpretation and insincerity has kept the pot boiling,” it said.

“Ironically, after five years while the FA has been put in cold storage, something unthinkable emanating from the Raj Bhawan in Kohima has taken over the scene,” the statement added. “But the ulterior motive behind such move has forced the Nagas to point fingers against RN Ravi, India’s interlocutor to Indo-Naga political talks.”

The outfit also accused Ravi of “brazenly using slanderous terminology” like “armed gangs” and “underground groups” against the Naga political groups. However, the outfit said that what “has directly pricked the consciousness of the Naga people at large” was when Ravi went for the profiling.

It was referring to a circular issued in July that asked all government employees to declare if their family members or relatives are associated with any “underground organisations”. “But we put on record that there are no Naga families who are not connected with the Naga political groups in one way or the other,” the NSCN (I-M) said.

The statement further pointed out that the proposal for the Framework Agreement was made on the principle of “shared sovereignty” and peaceful co-existence of the two entities. But the governor’s actions had created a huge trust deficit on the Centre, it added.

It, therefore, urged the Centre to “undo the environment of mistrust being built over the time because it should not take recourse to unethical means to circumvent any conceived obstacles”. “What has been mutually agreed upon should be honored in letter and spirit and that is the only way forward,” the statement concluded.