“It is an irony that the Naga People had to assert its right for self-determination from an entity “India” born out of 562 princely states who were equally placed besides the Nagas against the British Government till 1947”, quoted from the earlier write up entitled “The fall of “Framework Agreement” Wall! Re-unification and Reconciliation of Threats & Opportunities” by this writer.
To a lay ‘Naga Conscience’, passively following the unfolding discussions in the social media on the parleys between the GOI versus the NSCN(IM) and the WC-NNPGs towards reaching a final solution to the Indo-Naga conflict, is provoked to share the following naive perspective.
The raging spirit of freedom (unrestrained freedom) ingrained within the Naga character is still looming large amidst individuals, factions, tribal bodies, groups of civil societies; the Achilles heel of the Naga race, the causal bait to fragment the Naga country by the British Raj. Seemingly, the union of 562 princely states, successfully forming a nation into the biggest democracy of the World known by the name ‘India’ is the antithesis of the ‘Naga Nation’. Perhaps, the Naga people still warrants to be subjugated by alien Nations for few more centuries until the inherent Naga character of unrestrained freedom is fittingly bridled.
Freedom or Sovereignty may not rest in the hands of the people in Delhi, but rests within the Naga people till the time when the Naga race come to grips with the spirit of freedom. To a lay ‘Naga Conscience’, like this writer, if villages, tribes or front-runner Naga leaders cannot co-exists in the face of disagreement or dissent and shun the path of violence, the karma of Newton’s third law will hoodwink the Naga country for further fragmentation. The British colonial power knew the Naga character and history, finer than the most prominent indigenous Naga of all time. Our primitive village-states and Naga culture could not withstand the test of time and the very concept of our disunited independent village self-government was the original sin of the Nagas. The British legacy in Delhi, equipped with the Archive of each Naga archaeological and historical profiles are wide-awake to sow the seeds of divide and rule which will practically benefit both India and the disunited Naga society.
Are the Nagas ready to reap the fruit of one Nation, the aspiration of our patriarch Zhapu Phizo and thousands who laid their sacrificial life? Much will rely on the wisdom of dealing within the fiercest frontline - one’s own family, the Naga kindred and hence cannot blame the Government of India or the interlocutor and the present Governor of Nagaland, Shri. R.N. Ravi. The bold proclamation of the Naga Peace Accord at Dubai’s cricket stadium on 17th Aug, 2015 by the Hon’ble Prime Minister, Narendra Damodardas Modi bears a testimony to the global eyewitness. The determination of NaMo to conclude the Naga peace process within the stipulated time, doesn’t appear to be a mere rhetoric. However, it remains to be seen whether the inked document will design another Jammu and Kashmir, Hong Kong, Crimea or Brexit.
