Jonah Achumi
Look at your young men fighting, look at your women crying, look at your women crying,the way they’ve always done before,look at the fear we’re breeding,look at the fear we’re breeding,look at the lives we’re living, the way we’ve done it before, I don’t need your civil war, It feeds the rich while it buries the poor……. One of the world’s most popular and iconic American hard rock band of all times, Guns and Roses sang this legendary masterpiece during the early 90s in their song titled ‘Civil War’. It was then during my high school days where many children of my age,especially the boys, knew this lyrics and sang along(or hums to its tune)whenever this popular hit number was played in many homes,cars,music shops,hotels,etc.Ironically,that was the time when the factional killings and the dreaded army operations were at its peak.And what could be of a more sublime reference and a transcending inspiration today in comparing this song with our small tiny restive state of Nagaland and parts of Nagalim where total peace still seems to elude and evade us and is fragile as ever before. The August 3rd Framework Agreement signed between the Govt. of India and the NSCN(IM) is a very welcoming step for every Nagas irrespective of our tribal and geographical barriers as the elusive peace in our land seems to be just happening and walking in with bathed breath of some rising hopes but not without rational fears of every living Nagas, of what’s really in store with the much ignited expectations regarding this ‘Framework Formula’. Though the framework agreement has won many accolades in the national media as well as in various parts of our Nagalim, back home here it has been received with both cheers and jeers by rival groups and not without scepticism and criticisms which seems to be aplenty.Reluctance of some sections not to jump in the bandwagon of the much fanfare could have their own reasons as some pasts breakdown of abandoned peace talks,broken negotitiations,failed accords and one wonders if history will repeat itself .People has apprehensions of what and where will it lead us.Surely everyone has enough reason(s) to because the contents are still not known by anybody except some few top echelons and the movers and shakers of the NSCN(IM) and the Govt.of India. But let us also know when to give due credit where it deserves if we can criticise too.Many tribal apex bodies and civil societies have declared that they neither support the accord nor are against it and insists that unless the contents and details of the framework agreement be made known,its’a decision they cannot take at this juncture. A wise move here indeed because you can take the horse to the water but can never force it to drink. Many common people too applaud the accord but neither support nor are against it also.Yes,indeed it is like telling someone to jump down from a cliff and only after landing then will they know what is down below if the contents are not known fully by all and sundry.It will be like cleaning the Aegean Stables if things goes wrong again or if anything is against the mandate of the people.More so it will be like the Trojan Horse brought near the gates of Troy by the Greek soldiers in which the Greeks gave a giant wooden horse to their foes, the Trojans, ostensibly as a peace offering after failing to breach the mighty walls of Troy.But after the Trojans drag the horse inside their city walls, Greek soldiers sneak out of the horse’s hollow belly and open the city gates, allowing their compatriots to pour in and capture Troy. So undisclosing of the details and contents of the agreement may become one big stumbling block and an excuse for many not to support the accord which may hinder the progress of this hard-won achievement.The breakdown of the ceasefire agreement between the NSCN(K) and the Govt. of India with a renewed vigor of hostilities has taken precious lives on both sides as well as of some innocent women and children too. The implementation of the dreaded Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and the Disturbed Area Act (DAA) and at the same time signing the framework agreement for the Peace Accord baffles many common Nagas. While the GPRN/NSCN (Khole-Kitovi) group and the various factions of the NNCs/FGNs has stated it has nothing to do with the Framework Agreement,it only allays fears of what if things goes wrong again somewhere in the midst and the bloody factional clashes makes a comeback. Will its disruption return those nightmares again in the land? God forbid please. Unless all groups come together on board, the ship’s going to face some hard storms on its way to its destination.We may have come from different boats but we all have to sail on the same ship to the destination destined for us.The newly formed NSCN(R) seems to be making its voice heard and trying hard to be a force to reckon from the sidelines.Whatever or whichever steps and strides we have reached till date since from the historic Plebiscite of 1951 and the aftermath of the 1975 Shillong Accord, the present ceasefire that has been going on,since the late 1990s till date,except the abrogation by the NSCN(K)every group now needs to seriously ponder about our future with a rational approach. The Govt. of India cannot afford any longer to offer olive branch on one hand to one group and hold a striking sword on the other hand for the other groups. Its offering of a carrot from the front door and keeping a stick in the backyard policy or a cloak as outward apparel with multiple hidden daggers veiled inside the cloak will only endanger more innocent lives in the coming days and endanger this hard won road to peace. Hope the Govt.of India also takes this opportunity to bring permanent peace and settlement to our vexed political issue with all sincerity and genuine concern or the greater good of all.
The people have now become fully fed up against extortions and crimes committed by our national workers in the name of sovereignty but yet become fiercely patriotic, supportive and protective when any of their blood brothers in-arms are killed,no matter which group they belong to.People’s emotions runs high when their own flesh and blood brothers are being snubbed out of their lives which show that still many Nagas support the movement, though passively. It’s in the blood of the Nagas and yes, blood is thicker than water.But our NPGs must know that as said by a cetain German philosopher in the past “Guerillas are like fishes in the sea. They are the fishes and the people are the sea they live in. Without the water in the sea,it is impossible for the fishes to survive.”So without people’s manate and their support it will be impossible to thrive for any movement or an organisation.No wonder both Govt.of India and the NPGs are trying hard to win the people’s heart.Win the crowd and you win, is said by masters of legions and gladitor fighters which holds true even today.Not only as voiced out by few tribal bodies,but the common people has every right to know because the land belongs to the people as a whole and not just some group(s),faction(s) or some leader(s) for the voice of the people is the voice of the God.So every leader must listen to the voice of the people.Now what people wants is to carry on normal lives not only for themselves but for their children as they are fed-up of lawlessness,disorders,taxations, divisions and corruptions in the land. What everyone yearns and longs for is, Peace, Yes, A Just Peace! A normal life which any and every sane humans do, to live without fear,to earn without fear,to rear children without the fear of their future, to live and co-exist together as a people in harmony and unity. Or is it too much of a Utopian Concept for a common Naga? Are we all ready to compromise our self-righteousness and discard the same old pot calling the kettle black habit,if not for ourselves then atleast for the sake of our next generations? Or we don’t care if our children continue to grow and leave them in some more mess we have created?
I always remember this little parable narrated to us in a class during my school days by one of our teachers (an Indian army officer’s wife) in her last class as she was leaving her job because her husband got promoted and was transferred. There once was a very disobedient young student in a gurukul whom the master always had a very hard time in disciplining and controlling him. Whenever any young student had a query the master always had a ready answer in his hands at any given time. The wisdom and sagacity of the master was beyond compare and wide known. So the young mischievous pupil wanted to outwit his great master at any given time and was always looking for an opportunity to do it.This opportunity came when the young pupil heard the chirping of the newly born tiny birds on a tree .He went up the tree, caught hold of one of the little chirping bird and brought it down and went to his master and asked him,‘ Wise teacher, can you please tell me whether this little bird I have in my hands is dead or alive?’ The master realized immediately that it was a ploy to outwit him by the young mischievous pupil. If the master replied it was alive, then he was going to crush it between his hands. If the master replied it was a dead bird, he would unfold his two hands; prove him wrong and surprise him that it was alive. In both ways the master understood the ruse of the game plan thrown by his pupil. So he just answered, “The answer lies in your own hands”.
How familiar and akin is this little parable related to us today.A complete and a just peace will arrive only when Unity comes. A new breakthrough can be achieved only when a true reconcilation and forgiveness from the heart is kindled and sowed so this fragile peace won’t be lost. Let Unity and Forgiveness,which is the real missing link ,that is much needed at this hour arrive at the earliest. How can we bury the hatchet forever when we keep going back to the same place where we buried it and keep digging it out again and again? How can we rejoice that the final settlement has been arrived at when our brothers-in-arms are at war even now? The NSCN(K) brothers must also come together in the fold of peace for the greater good of the people as many apex civil societies and concerned Nagas are appealing and yearning for. Friedrich Nietzsche said “No one can construct for you the bridge upon which precisely you must cross the stream of life, no one but you yourself alone”.
What could be more truer and bolder than the words of Rev.Kari Longchar,NBCC Peace Committee member and former peace director in his message at the Chedema Camp,commemorating the Indo-Naga Ceasefire of 1964, “Today,very sadly but truthfully,the legitimate struggle of Naga politics is failing to capture the minds of the younger generation Nagas is due to the continuous factional killings and divisions which are now seen only as a contention for territorial control of taxation purpose and much less for the national interest. If this trend continuous then the future of the Nagas look very bleak”. Adding “ that the NBCC’s views does not carry the wisdom of all the Nagas since the Naga situation has become very complex,it will be needing many approaches for bringing healing to the risis and solution lies not just with few political leaders but demands the will and participation of everyone.”
Your fault not mine, their fault not ours seems to be the same old problem we have suffered, are suffering and will be suffering for us Nagas. For indeed we’re fools to make war on our brothers-in –arms. It’s not only about looking back in the past but walking together hand in hand looking together at the future. Let the past be a source of knowledge,the future a source of hope so that the love of the past implies faith and hope into our future. A struggle is legitimate only if it embodies the aspiration and mandate of the people,both morally and politically. Are we weeping for our brothers and sisters like Nehemiah or are we rejoicing and fiddling away like Nero when Rome burnt? Mother Teresa said ‘If we do not have Peace, it is because we have forgotton that we belong to each other. Let us forgive one another not because everyone deserves our forgiveness but because we all deserve our own Peace.’ Let us not pull others into our storms but pull them together into our Peace.Otherwise the road to peace is always going to be plagued by many of its own pitfalls and perils along the way. Unless we forgive others as we want others to forgive us this bitterness will forever remain a thorn in the flesh of every Nagas,present and future as it has done in the past.It is easier to win a brother’s heart with humility than to defeat him with our guns. It is more important to win over a brother with reconcilation than shoot him down with the bullet. We have been strong enough to stand alone many times ,and be ourselves to stand apart all these times but let us now be wiser to stand together when the time has come.Let us all exists together as brothers before we perish together as fools. Will this Augr 3rd Peace Accord usher in a new era of peace and solve the seven decades oldest running insurgency in India? Or is history going to repeat itself? Time,the greatest healer has healed much of our old wounds so lets not make fresh wounds lest the pus and blood oozes out once again through out the flesh of the land. Time,again being the best teacher has taught us well a lot about ourselves and others too,so let us learn form it well.
“Look at the shoes you’re filling, look at the blood we’re spilling, look at the world we’re killing,the power hungry soldiers in a human grocery store,with no love of God or human rights cause all these dreams are swept by the bloody hands of the hypnotized,who carry the cross of homicide and history bears the scars of our civil wars in which a genocide has turned into a fratricide”……..the song goes on. God forbid again. Oh Lord! Let sanity be ours! It is time we sort out what is right and not who is right.
Kuknalim
