The great October 31 bluff ? Final deal yet to be inked

What are the agreed terms between the Government of India and the NSCN (IM) ? This question is obviously more important than the terms arrived at with the NNPGs to the people of Manipur and this is something which New Delhi must have taken note of. Central to the sense of anxiety and the series of protests that the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI)  has lined up in the next couple of days is the interests of Manipur which may be compromised in the bid to ink a final pact with the NSCN (IM). Obvious that the final pact is yet to be inked, but it should be more than clear that the contours of the agreement have already been arrived at and the best that the media has been doing is to rely on ‘sources.’ More than five days now since the ‘agreement‘ has been arrived at but the final word is yet to be inked. Interlocutor to the peace talk and Governor of Nagaland RN Ravi on the other hand reportedly made it clear that it would be premature to set a time frame for concluding the peace process and herein lies the question of what the October 31 deadline was all about. In so far as the Nagas of Manipur are concerned, apart from the congratulatory words expressed by the United Naga Council and others, there have been no vocal response to the supposedly final pact. All indications that everyone is confused and does not really know what the supposed final pact is all about.
The very statement of RN Ravi that there is no time frame for a solution to the Naga issue has also added to the confusion on the final deal. If no final pact was signed on October 31, then what were the points that have been agreed upon ? It is this confusion which can only add to more tension and open avenues for people on either side to shoot in the dark and this could be dangerous. October 31 was supposedly the time frame set by the Government of India to sign the final deal and here is now RN Ravi reportedly stating that no time frame for a solution has been set. If no time frame has been set then why was so much importance given to October 31 and why did NSCN (IM) leader Th Muivah go to the extent of thanking the Naga people for their prayers and well wishes ? Something, somewhere just does not add up and this is what is more worrying. As stated above, COCOMI has already announced a series of protests for the next few days and New Delhi should take note that this is an expression of the deep sense of anxiety on whether the final deal will in any way impact on the interests of Manipur as a geo-political reality.  No time frame set for the final pact but already tension is high in Manipur and this should more than convey the message that any final deal with the NSCN (IM) will need to be consulted with the State Government too.