Speech of General (Retd) Kholi Vice President Government of the People’s Republic of Nagalim

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!
My dear countrymen, on this auspicious day of the Republic of Nagalim, I greet you all in the precious name of our Lord Savior Jesus Christ!

First of all, I give my revolutionary salute to all those martyrs who have laid down their lives for the future of the Nagas. Indeed, they have paid the price.

I pay homage to our brave fathers who left a legacy of living history for their posterities. They were a strong political people, who respected their land and history; who respected their right and freedom, identity and culture and defended them even at the cost of their dear lives.

The world we are living today is not the destination we have set for. We must keep moving looking to the future. We know people and nations move and change through revolution. Revolution takes them from one historical stage to another. It has brought the world from Dark Age to that of the light; from the stage of bondages to freedom and from backwardness to civilization. The Nagas also must move and change.

It is a recognized fact that the Nagas have the unique history of sovereign independent village-states headed by their hereditary Chiefs/kings from time immemorial. The hereditary Chief/king is the head of legislative, executive and judiciary Bodies. He is also the head of the religious affairs by custom. However, with the passage of time, concept changes. The concept of traditional hereditary king no longer sells to the people today. It is so because viability of the village-state becomes irrelevant in the modern context. So change of our village-states to a nation-state under republic system becomes imperative.

The Naga people in their national assembly declared their decision that Nagalim would be a ‘sovereign independent Christian Socialist democratic Republic.’ The national movement of the Nagas is inspired and guided by this principle and it has brought the Nagas thus far.

Ours is a future-oriented movement. We have felt that we are no longer safe in our village-state system; we have come to know that our future is not safe in any states under Indian constitution; it is not safe in the Shillong Accord too. So revolution continues.

All of us say we must find solution of the problem. But that is not enough if we cannot touch the crux of the problem. Shouting for solution on the roof top will not work. Criticizing, backbiting or preaching against the national workers in the forefront will not solve it too. Our problems are man-made. And the problem is you and me, not the heaven and the earth. Mushroom growth of factions in Nagalim to fight against each other is nothing but to magnify the problem. Solution lies in our decision, not in others. Let us focus on solution of problem, not creation of problem. NSCN is definitely for solution.

It took decades for the Indian leadership to realize that Indo-Naga issue is political not military, which finally brought the two parties to the negotiating table. After more than a decade long negotiation, Government of India and NSCN as two entities, have mutually agreed and signed the historic ‘Framework Agreement’ on 3rdAugust 2015. It is the foundation upon which a new relationship between the two entities will be built up. The agreement was made on the basis of respecting the right of the Nagas and the security of India. It embraces all Nagas and their territories, not a part of the people and a part of the territories. It is an issue-based agreement, rejection of which will pull the Nagas back to decades behind others. It is made in the best interest of the two people at this given point of time. This is the second bus we can never afford to miss. Both the parties will value the ‘Framework Agreement’ and abide by that. The future of the Nagas is now safe under this agreement.

We are behind others not because we have poor mental potentiality, but because of the chronic political problem and infighting among us. We are poor not because of unproductive geography or hostile climate, but because of lack of good work ethic and ignorant to industrial technologies. We are poor because we do not pay attention to market economy. In fact, we are a blessed people and that is enough reason to grow.

Now is the time to build our country consigning our differences to flame. Let us look forward, not backward. The past has gone never to come back. Let us dwell on the present keeping the future in mind. Rest assured our present and future are safe in the ‘Framework Agreement’.

KUKNALIM !