Mr. Fulutsu, you have certainly made claims about Naga history which will put many researchers and scholars to shame if you can only substantiate them. Some of them, of course, are beyond doubt - the extraordinary leadership and contributions of Phizo and Netaji and their meeting as well. Needless to say that Phizo was introduced to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose through the Japanese imperial army and they formed a tripartite alliance for obvious reason. In this connection, you claim that Phizo and Netaji were with General Sato in Burma in the Japanese Army Headquarter in Mandalay till August (probably you are referring to the year 1944). From such premises, you confidently seem to have concluded that whoever made any claim contrary to or beyond your knowledge are "bogus". You have a right to express your views and claims but since you proceeded to make serious allegations against us, directly and indirectly, it is not right on our part to remain silent, not only because it makes us appear guilty but more importantly, the public deserve to know the facts of history. So allow us to present the following facts:
1. In the book ‘Phizo and the Naga Problem’, it is clearly mentioned “Japanese were handicapped by the rivalry between their two commanders. General Sato in the battlefield and General Mutaguchi at the Military base, which finally ended in the withdrawal of General Sato with his demoralized soldiers from the Naga country”. This squarely contradicts your claim that Sato and Netaji did not set foot on Naga soil.
2. There are many historical evidences to show that Netaji used to be in the battlefronts, which are not consistent with your claim of his confinement in the Japanese Army Headquarter. Tapan Chattopadhay in his book ‘The INA Secret Service in Southeast Asia' records that the Japanese were vehemently opposed to the going of Bose to the front citing security reasons. But, ignoring the Japanese opposition, he continued to make occasional forays into Imphal and Nagaland to cheer his men and study the battle on ground. It also mentioned that Bose issued a proclamation on 21 March "from an undisclosed quarter on the front" which hardly could be the well known headquarter mentioned above. Again on 21 June 1944, a Bengali broadcast from Berlin radio quoted a press statement of Bose stating that he was at that time in India with his army. On the same day Radio Rangoon carried an interview with a Japanese war correspondent who met Bose in the Indian Territory. Earlier on 21st May 1944, a radio broadcast through Japanese correspondent said that Netaji moved freely amongst the men of the INA and lived a life of a common soldier, free from ostentation or luxury; he spent substantial time towards supervising the organization of the camps that he rarely got to sleep three hours at night.
3. Shah Nawaz Khan, a commander of the Subhas Brigade, has written in his book ‘INA & Its Netaji’ that Bose inspected the front again in May and June 1944 and returned to Rangoon on 2 July 1944 during which INA was engaged in battles in Nagaland and Manipur. It is pertinent to note that on 8th April 1944 Netaji shifted his headquarter to Maymyo, which was close to both Manipur and Nagaland. What can you make out of this?
More can be said but to list every available evidence is not our purpose. We want you to consider and reconsider your claims and arrogance. Just because you were the secretary of Phizo does not mean that Phizo was obliged to tell you everything he knew and did. Moreover, just because Phizo was an allied party, Bose has no need to reveal all his plans and strategies to him. Even if he did, it is quite possible that Phizo had taken an oath of secrecy for various reasons and therefore, he could not have revealed anything to you without compromising his integrity. Simply put, just because Phizo did not mention about the movement of Bose in the Naga soil to you does not mean you have a stronger evidence against all those who made claims contrary to yours.
Where were you with your evidence and claims when the book written by Dr. Er. Vekho Swuro, a respectable member of our village, was released way back in 2005? Were you sleeping? Or are you suddenly overcome by jealousy at the prospect of some development coming to our village? What makes you think that your knowledge and views are so superior that other scholars or writers are nothing but "bogus"? Are you a kind of omniscient person that knows everything that is taking place everywhere? Perhaps you know everything that had happened in our village then. Could you kindly let us know how many Britishers came to our village and also how many Japanese set their foot in our village? Have you ever wondered how much we have suffered during the wars and when the INA stayed in our village? Do you have any idea how much we have to go through when we were given risky responsibilities to be GBs, DBs, porters, guides in addition to sacrificially sharing all our resources viz. paddy, domesticated animals, vegetables and the likes with the INA? Are you telling us that all the pain taken by the author to pen down testimonies of witnesses, which otherwise would have long gone to be forgotten, meaningless and valueless?
By what right and authority you are judging the works of others? Just because you were once a secretary of Phizo, are you assuming that anyone researching on Netaji come to you for permission to write and also seek permission to bring development in Nagaland? Does the Government of Nagaland conduct their NLA session under your national authority? Was Indira Gandhi Stadium in Kohima and all other governmental structures in Nagaland built after getting permission from your national authority? Don't think that your nationalism is above everyone just because of your association with Phizo. We are as much nationalist as you and we do have our share of contribution towards our national struggle.
You should realize that you are in no position to verify the truth of our historical claims. Accusing a respectable writer of our village as a "bogus writer" is a very serious allegation. It not only insult the dignity of the person in question but also the integrity of our village, in particular the members who testified their association with Netaji. The authenticity of the claims made in the book rests on the information given to the author by the informants of Cesezu and Ruzazho villages. He did what any researcher and writer would have done to record the historical facts. As such, the level of insult you have hurled towards our community and citizens concerned raises grave concern. After much deliberation, we are making this public rejoinder to duly inform you to refrain from writing anything in this regard that insults the integrity of our community. Otherwise, we will be compelled to initiate appropriate legal action against you.
