Our Reporter
Dimapur, April 19 (EMN): Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Tuesday urged church leaders to come together and understand the cry of the people for peace among the Nagas, saying that it is only common platform with the Naga society divided.
He was speaking on the last day of the 40-day of revival programme organised by Sinai Ministry on the theme “Heal Nagaland” at Don Bosco Higher Secondary School football ground in Dimapur.
He told the gathering that forgiveness is the first step to unity, and in Christ everyone should be practical, reasonable and uphold the Christian values and try to love, care and value one another.
He said that in the eyes of the Government of India, Nagaland is a disturbed area and it is extended every six months despite the state’s objection.
“And that means AFSPA rules us and the latest Oting incident was one of the biggest tragedies of Nagas,” he recalled, adding that people from other parts of the world are terrified of Nagaland because of the disturbed area tag.
Rio requested the Naga political groups to remind themselves about the signing of reconciliation under Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR) and how they had gone their own ways. He, therefore, appealed to them to revisit it and become more active or else everything would go back to square one.
He said that Naga peace talks have been going on for more than 25 years but there has been no meeting point so far.
Speaking about the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) government, he said the state assembly election is approaching and “we cannot be opposition-less government and go for election, and so, we will go back to our own parties and people have their own party and candidate which will divide us, and therefore before that if we unite and reconcile and impress GoI to give settlement, that will be the future of our younger people and generations to come”.
Rev. Dr. Wati Aier, Convenor of FNR, shared that Nagas still have hopes for reconciliation and something must be done by the leaders.
He asked the leaders “not to remain as it is but we want a transformed future; we want Naga stories to be changed to the stories of reconciliation because of God”.
He shared that many people keep their faith in the corner of their heart but in the historical context, they fail to practice reconciliation. “If God is before us then in the historical context we should be with one another and not against one another,” he said.
He said that reconciliation has become ‘so cheap ad unreal’ in the Naga context, ‘and today, what we need is the power and not the powerlessness of our own thinking’.
He challenged the Nagas to become the ‘salt of the earth’, because salt heals, preserves and “when we rub the salt in the wounds of the Nagas it will burn but it will stop decaying and bring healing”.
‘Nagas must accept that we are one, and break the walls to let us grasp the freedom which reconciliation offers us,’ he added.
Representatives from various Naga political groups also shared their concerns before the programme concluded with a mass prayer.