Comprehension or understanding of what people say or write is usually a simple, straightforward affair. But in many instances, parts of the speech or text can be quoted, out of context, to give a totally different colour to the original intent of the speech or text. I am acquainted with neither Dr. HokisheYeptho nor Mr. KakhetoZhimo, although both belong to the Sumi tribe, of which I am a member; but I was struck by the idiocy of the latter’s pathetic attempt to twist the former’s speech.
What I gathered from the text of Dr. Hokishe’s speech was an honest attempt to clear the mystery surrounding “The Great Framework Agreement”, and the impatience of the Nagas of Nagaland with the so called “Solution”. All I understood was that the late lamented Mr. Isaac Chishi Swu could not have appended his signature to the legendary “Framework Agreement” because he was unconscious and laying in the I.C.U. on the day the agreement was purported to be signed. Nowhere does it question Mr. Swu’s sanity or his wishes to see a free and united Naga Nation. If Mr. Kakheto can read so much more into it, I bow to him as a man of unsurpassed intellect and wisdom. Mr. Kakheto is right in that Mr. Isaac Chishi Swu was a leader revered by all Nagas, but that does not give any of us the right to use his name as a rubber stamp to create an air of unassailable sanctity to further their questionable policies. And far from creating confusion, Dr. Hokishe has attempted to shed some light on the mythical “Framework Agreement”.
I need to remind Mr. Kakheto that Dr. Hokishe’s desire for an interim agreement for the Nagas of Nagaland is a growing desire on the part of the Nagas of Nagaland, bridging tribal and geographical boundaries. For I want to ask Mr. Kakheto, “Have you ever heard of any movement, struggle or insurgency, in the history of the whole wide world, in which the people whose future are at stake are or were unaware of the goals for which they are/were struggling?”Because that is exactly what is happening to us in Nagaland. We don’t know what this fantastical “Framework Agreement” is. For while we in Nagaland suffer, I don’t see any grassroots movement among the Nagas of Manipur, Assam or Arunachal Pradesh for any sort of union or relationship with us and with each other. And it is not for Dr. Hokishe to spell out the terms of any interim agreement; rather, it is down to those who are purportedly fighting for our freedom to do so.
I agree with Mr. Kakheto when he says that Dr. Hokishe is wrong in comparing our wait for the “Settlement” with an owl waiting for an acorn to ripen. No Dr. Hokishe, at least an oak tree bears acorns; we are more like the fool who plants a bone hoping that a meat tree will grow.
George Bernard Shaw once said,” If you have one apple and I have one apple, and we exchange apples, we have one apple each. But if you have one idea and I have another idea, and we exchange ideas, we both have two ideas each.” I don’t know Mr. Kakheto’s definition of a pro or an anti Naga but my definition of a pro Naga is one who shares and exchanges thoughts, ideas, experiences and goals and any Naga who keeps a closed mind and harbours secret intentions, aims and policies is an anti Naga. God Save My Nagaland.
