Correspondent
Wokha, November 26
THE Naga Hoho while expressing that Naga national aspiration is the foundation of Naga people to ensure the spirit of oneness today said that time has come for the tribe hohos and Naga Hoho to remain firm and once again put the historical and political rights of the Naga people in the right perspective.Naga Hoho president Keviletuo Kiewhuo addressing the gathering of representatives from almost all its 22 units during the 10th general session at Wokha today said “We are a people today because we inherited this Nation pioneered by the Naga Club, the Naga National Council (NNC) and the National Social Council of Nagaland (NSCN). Now it is in the people’s court whether we will nurture or perish as a people. The choice is in everyone’s doorstep”.
Maintaining that there are visible indicators that are emerging to distort the very fabric of the Naga movement and these elements takes pride in mocking the Naga nation’s struggle, he said “we cannot afford to accommodate divisive forces to defeat the Naga fraternity”.
He further expressed that “there cannot be conflict of interest in our national aspiration when the existence of our Nationhood is in question. In this aspect, the tribe Hoho has the supreme power in decision-making besides national governments”.
Therefore, every tribe must be strong and vigilant because the Naga family starts with the tribes and its villages, he said adding that “the Naga people will face catastrophic effects if we allow division/split within a given tribe”.
Maintaining that as Nagas travel in search of peace and political settlement, its people and the political negotiators must embrace the process with sincerity to bridge the trust deficit with the stakeholders.
“Ceasefires are in operations with the Government of India (GoI) but these are temporary and fragile,”he said.
He expressed that the political negotiation between the GoI and the NSCN for an honourable and acceptable settlement has been bouncing back and forth for the past 16 years without yielding any results.
“The long drawn exhausting political dialogue has produced dismay and given space to negative forces to prosper at the cost of our political rights,” he said.
In this connection, Kiewhuo maintained “Whatever price we may have to pay, we cannot remain silent to the distortion and undermining of the political rights”.
Accepting that in a highly strategic political negotiation, full transparency may not be possible, he however said “certain indications must trickle down to the people for discourse and digestion for acceptability”.
He therefore said the success or failure of political talks is dependent on the perceptibility of the people and the role of tribe Hohos in engaging with the stakeholders is paramount. “We must wake up to enhance the peace process at various levels,” he quipped.
“Another aspect of our struggle should be to integrate this small family of the Nagas. Though contagious, our adversaries have succeeded by dividing us into Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Nagaland and Myanmar,” he said.
He said Naga Hoho slogan is ‘One people, One nation’ but questioned then how are we going to turn the wheel of history to shape the future.
“Are we going to place our destiny in the hands of the oppressors or are we willing to explore further to free the shackles of divisions,” he queried.
At the same he expressed that when there is desire to become one people, one nation, there seems to be undercurrents to fragment our people further and further that has crept up in the public domain.
“Let us rise up above sectarianism and become a progressive force to consolidate the Naga position,” he challenged stating that “we must conquer our vested interest, tribe interest, and harness the collective interest of the Naga people as a whole”.
“In the name of democracy and freedom, we are witnessing intense media war in the form of hate campaign, demonising personalities, blatant condemnation of established tribe Hohos, Naga organisation, churches, and peacemakers,” he added.
Kiewhuo further called upon the Naga people to “restrain ourselves in attacking and nurture one another to bring in a sense of oneness”.
He also said the Naga Hoho and tribe hohos are socio-political institutions and functions without parameters only guided by the voices and needs of our people with the principle tenets to weave a common vision for the people with limitless boundaries.
“Here, we must have big heart to help our fellow Nagas of Myanmar as they need us more than we do in the present day atmosphere. They should not be discriminated in this part of our land as we will need each other in the days to come and make Nagaland a better place for them,” he added.
Chaired by Naga Hoho vice president K. Inaka Assumi the programme commenced with invocation by Wokha Town Baptist Church Pastor Rev. Sulumo Ezung. Special number was presented by Rebecca while NH general secretary P. Chuba Ozükum gave a brief account of the activities of the Hoho from 2008-2013.
Convenor Amendment Committee, Timikha Koza along with members Vipopal Kintso and K. Elu Ndang released the new constitution of the Hoho.
