Our Reporter
Dimapur, July 9 (EMN): Naga People’s Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR), Delh, held its 21st Morung Dialogue ‘One History: Many Stories’ via Zoom on July 9.
The Morung Dialogue attempts to bring 'One History: Many Stories' through a panel of people placed in different political settings and circumstances and weave the dialogue into a tribute to ‘Onae Reh Dah’, the Great Battle of Oinam that continues to both tear and bind us to Dr. PS Lorin, a person who is a beautiful story in the tapestry of the Naga narrative.
During the interaction, associate professor of University of Delhi, Veio Pou said that July 9 is a landmark day for those, who were affected and added that July 9, 1987 is the central theme of the novel he has written. It draws the attention of ordinary people that were affected by the incident.
Pou pointed out that there are multiple stories that people often ignored but those ‘ignored stories might fit the missing pieces of history if they look closely into it’. He added that they were all part of this big story of the Naga movement and everyone has different stories and perspective to contribute to the stories and opined that narrative of the leaders are important but they also need to look at the lesser people's stories, who were affected by the whole movement.
Pou said that when they look at the narrative of national movement they are so patriarchal and men often dominate the discourses while women were reduced to anonymity. He opined that unless small narratives like women narrative or ordinary citizen’s narratives emerge in the scene, they would not be able to see the larger picture.
The associate professor also gave importance to community memory, as community is the larger picture of the society and intends to let multiple individuals emerge as important categories of speakers. The irony of Nagas at present, according to him is due to so many wrongs done against each other in the past that the Christian virtue of forgiveness is far being practised in the land, where magnificent churches still abode today.
During the Morung Dialogue, former Home, Finance and Civil Supplies Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, James Wanglat said that the Oinam outrage was a calculated violation of human rights in any decent democracy and it was a sad day in the history of Indian democracy. Wanglat stated, 'What we need the most today is that we do not need to dig up the past misfortunes as they are at a crossroad and Nagas of all communities must learn to live as one people, one nation under one umbrella'. He added that if the final accord was signed, the infamous operation ‘Blue Bird’ and killing of each other would be no more. Wanglat opined that the next ten years would be the year of agriculture revolution through modern farming and we must take the opportunity to revolutionise the northeast economy.
The president of Naga Students’ Federation (NSF), Kegwayhun Tep, recounting the Oinam incident quoted Charles Dickens saying, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair".
Tep stated that it was a time when the aspiration of the Naga people has been cast upon the shadows of political despair and uncertainty. He urged the Naga society and leaders to clear and clean their mirror in order to have a clear vision towards the Naga cause for self-determination.
He said that through sacrifices of the sons and daughters of the soil, their aspiration and hope could be renewed once again with the strongest sense.
Tep further said, 'We cannot afford or allow the bitterness of the past to dictate the course of our future as much damage has been done. We have set aside the bitterness and the young generation yearn to live in peace'.