KOHIMA, JULY 1 : In Kohima, the Angami Public Organization (APO) organized a public reception for the cortege escorting the mortal remains of late Isak Chishi Swu to his native Chishilimi village in Zunheboto district. Hundreds of people thronged the streets of the capital town, braving a heavy downpour, to pay homage to the departed leader who died in Delhi on June 28 following prolonged illness.
Delivering a condolence message during the programme, APO president Dr. Vilhusa Seleyi said that the organization mourns the loss of a great patriot who made outstanding sacrifices for the Naga cause. Pointing out that although there may have been some “controversies in his (late Swu’s) ideologies” in the decades-long fight against a giant nation, he stated that the APO, however, appeals to the public and the leaders in particular to realize the value of reconciliation.
Peace activist Niketu Iralu, who delivered a speech during the occasion, asserted that he was touched by the opportunity to ‘personally mourn’ the passing of his “closest college class friend.” Likewise, he said to be challenged in even greater measure as he was giving expression to the Angami recognition of and respect for the sacrifice of a Naga leader who went all out to proclaim and defend the political cause of “our people” as understood by Swu.
Iralu said that Isak Swu played his political role, held on with evangelical fervor and zeal to his Christian faith which he inherited from his pioneering father. The social activist believed that it could be said to credit that Isak Swu never let go of Jesus Christ’s imperishable injunction: ‘To give unto Caesar what belonged to Caesar and to God what belonged to God.’
“In the leadership, he sought to give, there can be no doubt about the place he gave to his command, from above the battlefield of politics and life. I believe it will turn out that it made a crucial difference in our crisis, and it will be remembered with gratitude as his special contribution. Nagas will pray that the legacy of his commitment to his faith will be brought to bare on the tough issues still to be resolved in the common journey ahead of all of us,” the peace activist said.
Also, Iralu maintained that no matter what went wrong so far to fragment and weaken the Naga people, they still have a common foundation, that is, the struggle for their aspirations to be a people and a nation.
“The extremely high price paid by our national workers across the board, for the past seven decades, to defend our story and position, has gifted us the struggle we have today. Let us not underestimate what the struggle from the start to today has achieved for the Naga people. It is a foundation on which the present generation will be able to build their future,” Iralu said.
As the Naga bid farewell to Chairman Isak Swu, he reminded the people the powerful pledge the presidents of the different Naga tribes jointly read out at the launching of the Naga National Reconciliation Process in Kohima in December 2001, fervently calling for the forging of a solidarity that will be sustainable and productive because they will decide to “go beyond seeing only where others have hurt us, and be ready to see where we too may have provoked them to hurt, so that forgiving and being forgiven will become possible”.
He felt that if the Naga were now wise enough to rise to this level of truthfulness, responsibility and realism, reconciliation and unity that the departed leader repeatedly called for will be achieved as a matter of course. If not, they will continue to go down the road to self destruction in the name of freedom because “hurts not transformed are always transferred”.
Iralu also recalled that Kohima was a very small town when Isak Swu came to study in the Government High School here, and he had made lasting friendships with individuals and families who value him and his family. There is poignancy and grief in the thought that this will be his last earthly passage through the Kohima he grew up in, he stated.
“Today is a hard day for each of us, we are here to mourn the death of a great patriot….Here is a man who gave his whole life for our national cause, his demise has shaken our nation… My brothers and sisters, let us stand together united, let us be one. I am sure he (Swu) had this dream,” said the Kohima Village Council chairman, Medoselhou Keretsu in his brief speech. Also recalling Swu’s years in Kohima when he was a high school student, Keretsu said Swu spoke Tenyidie as fluently as an Angami. This trait, he felt, was how the late Swu had won the hearts of many tribes.
Various organizations of Kohima paid their tributes to late Swu with wreaths before the cortege proceeded towards the final resting place Chishilimi.
The service for late Isak Chishi Swu will be held on July 2, at 10 am at Chishilimi village.
