Govt exploring to impose Gaidinliu legacy on Naga people: AYO

EMN DIMAPUR, AUGUST 24 Naga organizations continue to register their resentment over the state government’s plan to erect a Rani Gaidinliu Memorial Hall at Kohima. On Monday, the Angami Youth Organization (AYO) wrote a representation to the Governor stating its objection to the plan. “AYO is perturbed to the status and recognition accorded to Gaidinliu and the simultaneous effort the state government is exploring to impose her legacy upon the Naga people. AYO is more convinced that the lady under reference do in no manner merit any such recognition and honor from any quarter or institution as far as her life and contribution towards the Nagas in general and the Angamis in particular is concerned. “The state government and its agencies idolizing Gaidinliu as a nonpareil personality to the Nagas of Nagaland is too absurd and foolish to be embraced. We will resist the forced imposition of a false/anti people legacy upon us in our land,” read the representation. It stated that the AYO, representing the emotions and sentiments of the Angami Naga Community, will firmly oppose the installation of any humane statues/idols, particularly that of Gaidinliu in and outside the proposed Memorial Hall at Kohima, the ancestral land of the Angamis. “Owing to the fact that we Angami Nagas do not venerate human idols and such culture are foreign and alien to our customary traditions and contemporary beliefs. The Angamis, the front pioneers and major stakeholder of Naga Nationhood, deemed Gaidinliu to be nothing more than a collaborator who have stymied and suppressed the Nagas from asserting their God endowed freedom. The organization will never endorse to an anti people portrait flaunted in our land.” The AYO asserted that it will, at no point of time, bear or tolerate the institutionalization of the memorial hall to be a medium/centre for propagation/promotion of any cult or sect. “The organization will, more than be happy and be at peace if all the proposed initiatives and activities to glorify Gaidinliu are being planned, done and executed by a non-governmental institution, not the state government of Nagaland, in her own locality, district and state i.e, Manipur. “Any activities initiated pertaining to the matter here in Kohima henceforth, without consultation with the Angami Public Organization (APO) will only inevitably entail social complexities and problems for which the Organization or the Angami community should not be held accountable to. “It will therefore be incumbent to your concerned authority to react in reconsidering your unsolicited official schedules at the earliest for the interest and wellbeing of your subjects.” In a separate press release, the Sumi Region, Federal Government of Nagaland expressed outright rejection and opposition to the state government’s plan to build the Rani Gaidinliu memorial. “Spiritually, being a Christian nation, she was a pro-Indian, aligned with Hindu outfit the Sangh Parivar and her indigenous Heraka religion, she staunchly resisted the Nagas conversion to Christianity. After the Indian Independence, due to her active role, she became Jawaharlal Nehru’s favorite ‘daughter of the hills’. “She became associated and strong relations with the Hindu Organizations, the VHP, Akhil Bharatiya Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram (ABVKA), etc. and a hosts of social and cultural organizations of the Hindus of India and also attended the World Hindu Religious Conference. Her religion was more or less Hinduism and should be condemned by one and all in our Christian land and must stop glorifying her.” Politically, she was the ‘lone leader for the Zeliangrong people’ and not the Nagas, an ardent pro-Indian, openly opposed the Naga National Council, headed by AZ Phizo and Christian Missionaries, she formed her own underground party and named ‘Zeliangrong Government of Rani Party’, took up arms against the NNC in response to NNC’s declaration of ‘Federal Government of Nagaland, it added. Modi remembers Rani Gaidinliu for freedom struggle role IANS New Delhi, August 24 Expressing regret that several freedom fighters and other prominent personalities who contributed for the cause of the country had not been “remembered adequately”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday recalled the contribution of Naga leader Rani Gaidinliu to India’s freedom struggle. Inaugurating the birth centenary celebrations here of Gaidinliu, a Naga spiritual and political leader, the prime minister said India must remember the glorious heritage of the freedom struggle and ensure that the legacy of the struggles and achievements of our freedom fighters is passed on to succeeding generations. “It is our misfortune that people such as Rani Gaidinliu have either not been remembered adequately, or have been deliberately forgotten,” he said in his address. Gaidinliu, affectionately called Rani Maa, believed that her struggle for the Naga people against the British was also a struggle for India’s unity and integrity, he said. Modi also credited Gaidinliu with spreading the message of Mahatma Gandhi in the northeast region. Modi said Gaidinliu’s thoughts on living in harmony with nature could provide an answer to the problem of climate change being faced by the world on Monday. The prime minister also spoke of his government’s initiatives for the development of the northeast. He reiterated that the progress of the northeast will provide a big boost to the development of the entire nation. “India will develop only if the northeast develops,” Modi said, adding that the central government was committed for over all development of the region. “We are putting in maximum efforts to build infrastructure in the northeast,” he said. The prime minister also said following the resolution of the border dispute with Bangladesh, connectivity with the northeast was set to become easier. “The northeast has now become closer to the rest of India.” Stating that the northeast was blessed with abundant natural bounty, he said that the region has the potential to become the organic capital of the country. Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Finance Minster Arun Jaitley also spoke on the occasion. Rajnath Singh said as Durgawati and Rani Laxmi Bai were mentioned in the history of the freedom struggle, the name of Gaidinliu should have been given the same prominence. “Historians have failed to do justice with Rani Gaidinliu,” the minister said. Jaitley said remembering Gaidinliu would help the northeastern region of the country to come closer to the mainstream. “It would go a long way in creating a sense of involvement (among the people there),” he said while addressing the function largely attended by school children. Born on January 26, 1915, Rani Gaidinliu joined her cousin Haipou Jadonang’s movement at the age of 13 to drive out the British from Manipur. In 1932, she was arrested at the age of 16 and sentenced to life in prison. She was released from Tura jail (now in Maghalaya) after having spent 14 years in various prisons. She died on February 17, 1993, at Longkao in Manipur. Nagaland Governor P.B. Acharya, Nagaland Chief minister T.R. Zeliang, Manipur Chief Minister O. Ibobi Singh and union ministers Mahesh Sharma and Jitendra Singh were also present on the occasion.