Our Reporter
Dimapur, Dec. 18 (EMN): Governor RN Ravi on Wednesday said that resolution of the conflict could be achieved only through peaceful dialogue and not through violence.
Ravi was addressing the Eastern Nagaland Peoples' Organisation (ENPO) Peace and Unity foundation day in Tuensang.
He reminded the gathering that villages have survived for several hundred years and have been able to meet their economic, social and political needs.
"The people's strength of organising and managing the society, its internal and external needs and sustaining it for thousands of years is a matter of pride and must pay tribute to our elders who have brought all of us here today,” said Ravi.
According to him, there was a lack of connectivity, interactions and exchanges among the people ‘because for long we have not understood the other, while the other remains a strange entity’.
"There could be apprehension, fear; and fear creates violent reactions. Even today after 55 years of statehood, it pains to see the absence of connectivity," he shared.
Connectivity, he said, was a problem in Nagaland but the worst was in eastern Nagaland. "If Tuensang is the headquarters of eastern Nagaland, it should attract students with quality education," he said adding that quality education, better connectivity and improved human development in the region needed for a progressive society.
Minister for Health and Family Welfare S Pangnyu Phom said that for many years, people of Nagaland were crippled in all fields as people endured the brutalities of both the armed forces of India and Naga groups.
Unfortunately, people from eastern Nagaland bore most of the brunt and the land continued to witness bloodsheds, brutalities and remained a battlefield ‘because we inhabit the border areas of India and Myanmar’, he said. While most areas of the state slowly progressed, eastern areas continued to be a battlefield, he added.
The legislator appreciated that despite enduring all forms of hostilities for many decades, the people chose peace and unity over acts of violence.
Phom appealed to the people to continue to be peacemakers. He applauded the decision of eastern Nagaland to take up "this herculean task to restore peace and tranquillity and foster the spirit of brotherhood”.
"The members of Eastern Nagaland Legislators’ Union reaffirm our commitment to tirelessly work for peace, unity and progressive Nagaland, particularly in the four districts of the state," he said.
He credited RN Ravi for making the Naga peace process 'truly inclusive'.
"In just about five years, the governor, on October 31 this year, concluded the decades-long negotiations with the Naga political groups, a task none of his predecessors could achieve. Such significant achievements within short span of time speak a lot about our governor’s commitment to restore peace and tranquillity in our land and bring Nagaland at par with the rest of the states of the country," Phom said.