Aug. 6: An Assam Congress secretary today moved the Union ministry of home affairs seeking details of the peace deal signed between the Centre and the NSCN (Isak-Muivah) on Monday under the Right to Information Act as the pact "concerns" northeastern states.

The application was moved by first-time APCC secretary Bibhuti Bhushan Barthakur under Section 6 of the act seeking the full content of the agreements.

Barthakur told The Telegraph he sent the RTI application through "registered" post around 4pm today from Meghdoot Bhawan in Guwahati in "my individual capacity" but everybody, including Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi, had sought details of the deal because it concerned the people of the region.

Gogoi had welcomed the pact on Tuesday but warned against any effort to redraw the state's boundaries.

Barthakur also wanted to know why the agreement was not made public. "Reasons, if there is any, should be dispensed with in accordance with the provision of the RTI Act, 2005," he wrote in his application.

Congress sources here said party president Sonia Gandhi had earlier in the day slammed the accord. "Sonia ji has flayed the Prime Minister for not taking into confidence our chief ministers in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur, the states directly affected by the accord," one of them said.

The three states are against the demand for greater Nagalim affecting their territorial integrity. The Congress rules five states in the region, the other two being Meghalaya and Mizoram.

The developments reflect the Congress's effort to be on the "right side" of the public in the three states for whom territorial integrity remains an emotional issue.

Sources said following Sonia's criticism, Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Nab-am Tuki deleted a tweet he had posted yesterday welcoming the Centre's efforts to bri-ng a "peaceful solution to the prolonged Naga political issue".

In Nagland too, the Congress expressed doubts about the accord since all sections of people were not taken on board for the talks.

AICC member and former president of the Nagaland Congress K.V. Pusa said it was "arrogant" on part of the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre of not only keeping a large section of people in the dark about the impending solution but also not taking onboard other key players like the NSCN (Khaplang), the NSCN (Khole-Kitovi) and the Naga National Council (NNC). "All groups and organisations should have been consulted before signing the accord," he said. He insisted the organisations and churches in the state should have been thoroughly consulted.

He also flayed the Centre for backtracking from its commitment made to the NSCN (I-M) that the accord would be signed between Prime Minister Modi and "Prime Minister" of the NSCN's "Government of the People's Republic of Nagalim or GPRN". "An accord signed by an interlocutor can't be termed as historic. It should be between the two 'Prime Ministers'," Pusa said.

Pusa also said the BJP was not clear on the deal with some saying it was a "political accord", while others said it was a "political framework".

"In the interest of the youth, any accord should be once and for all," he added.

The Congress today held a marathon closed-door meeting to discuss the signing of the accord.

On the other hand, the United Naga Council (UNC), apex body of the community in Manipur, hailed the peace accord as "historic".

"The signing of the peace accord has brought an end to decades of armed conflict in Naga areas. The peace accord was the fruits of unstinting courage and patience of the Nagas on one hand and the wisdom and political will of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government on the other," S. Milan, information and publicity secretary of the UNC, said in a statement here today.

The UNC also extended "deepest appreciation, heartiest gratitude" to the Prime Minister and NSCN chairman Isak Chishi Swu and general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah. "The Nagas in Manipur along with the rest of the Nagas will always gratefully remember them and their names inscribed in the golden pages of Naga history," the statement said. It said the Nagas in Manipur also pledged themselves to continue to help in making the peace accord get its final shape.

"Long live Narendra Modi, Isak Chishi Swu and Th. Muivah," the statement said.