Dimapur, Jan. 28 (EMN): The Sumi Naga Labour Corps Association (SNLCA) has issued a statement in response to the Naga Hoho, which had noted a number of charges that a leader of the SNLCA made during a public event.
Following the Naga Hoho’s rejoinder to the charge of the SNLCA on Jan. 26, the association issued a statement on Jan. 27, clarifying that some statements that were made during the course of the event were understood differently by the Naga Hoho.
The Naga Hoho had issued a rejoinder against the statement made by SNLCA’s convenor, Dr. H Hotokhu Chishi, during his address at the Postal Envelope commemorating the 100th anniversary of the participation of 21st Naga Labour Corps in WW1, in Dimapur on Jan. 24. During the event, he was believed to have stated that ‘Naga Hoho was not interested in Naga history.’
In the press note, the SNLCA admitted to have read the full content of the rejoinder carried in the Naga Hoho letter via social media, in which the Naga Hoho alleged that the convenor was intending to implicate the Naga Hoho in the Naga Club controversy.
Making the clarification, the SNLCA mentioned that it firmly believed the Naga Club to be the cornerstone of Naga political identity.
“However, we were confined to the matters related to the story of the 2000 Nagas of 21st Naga Labour Corps and their contribution to the concept of the Naga political identity, not with matters of Naga Club formation,” the group clarified.
Further, to the statement issued by the Naga Hoho claiming that the speaker had uttered the opinions at a wrong place at the wrong function, the SNLCA maintained it was a befitting occasion to expound the past and make clear the circumstance, sacrifice, and outcome of the Naga’s participation in WWII.
“The release of the Special Postal Envelope in commemoration of the centenary of WWII Naga Labour Corps was the most opportune moment to shed light on our historic past,” the press release stated.
Saying that Naga institutions such as the Naga Hoho had been mute spectators ‘while the world commemorated the Armistice that ended the war,’ observed on 11 November 2018, the SNLCA wondered whether the Naga Hoho was unaware about the landmark in Naga history, or the Naga Hoho had with clear intent chosen to ignore the significant event.
“Silence on matters of historically documented facts and the contributions of the 2000 Naga labour corps, which led to the awakening of Naga political consciousness amounts to deliberate rejection of the past,” the SNLCA pointed out.
It added that the persistent silence and unwillingness of the Naga Hoho to acknowledge the immense contribution was an attempt to bury its own history.
