16 Point Memorandum drafted ‘consciously & judiciously’: Dr SC Jamir

16 Point Memorandum drafted ‘consciously & judiciously’: Dr SC Jamir

16 Point Memorandum drafted ‘consciously & judiciously’: Dr SC Jamir

Dr SC Jamir speaking at Governor’s ‘At Home’ programme on January 26 in Kohima. (Morung Photo)

 

Our Correspondent

Kohima | January 26


Dr SC Jamir, ex-chief minister and former governor of Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Odisha today said the 16 Point Memorandum was conceptualized and drafted “very consciously and judiciously, factoring all the prevailing exigent and strenuous socio-political realities so as to act as a basis for an honorable resolution to the vexed Naga problem.”


Speaking at Governor’s At Home programme on rechristening Durbar Hall of Raj Bhavan Kohima as “Dr Imkongliba Hall” on the occasion of 71st Republic Day here, Dr Jamir said, “To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven. Perhaps today is the right season and a right time for me as one of the pioneers of the state to unfold some of the truths about the achievements of the NPC that were suppressed till today.”


Over the years, he said, the 16 Point Agreement had been scorned and maligned by vested interests and even including those who are enjoying the fruits of statehood.


“In their mistaken and often comforting belief of complete knowledge and factual consciousness, people are perilously inclined to apply distorted logic, analyze half-cook information and draw faulty conclusions on matters requiring detailed and meticulous understanding and scrutiny,” he said.

 

Only living signatory of 16-Point Agreement

Stating that he is now the only living signatory to the 16 Point Agreement of 1960, Dr Jamir said “I feel it my bounden duty to place on record the incontrovertible reality that the NPC always dedicatedly endeavoured to create a favourable political environment in the areas so as to lucidly and unequivocally highlight the foundational basis of the legitimate demands and long felt political aspirations of the Naga people before the Government of India.”


Further, he said, “I do not harbour the slightest hesitation or faintest demur in stating that the widely acknowledged, hugely debated and often irrationally maligned Sixteen Point Agreement of 1960 was evolved after exhaustive and widespread deliberations by the representatives of the 16 tribes of Nagaland, is a prominent milestone in the chequered political history of the Nagas. The solemn and unanimous resolution of the Naga Peoples Convention was to salvage the hopes and aspirations of the Naga people.”


“After examining in depth the historical and political records of the Naga National Council, the Naga Peoples Convention included Article 371 (A) as one of the most important demands during the negotiation with the Prime Minister of the India in 1960,” he said.


Dr Jamir said the younger generation, especially young political leaders of the state should clearly understand how and why the Naga Peoples Convention (NPC) emerged in the Naga political scenario, so that a true perspective can emerge on the ideas, ethos, activities and goals of the NPC in the context concentration camps, cultivations were denied, male folks were either herder to jails or engaged in forced labour.”

 

Had only two options

Dr Jamir said that there were only two options left-either to surrender and again become district of Assam or find an alternative to safeguard the political entity of the Nagas.


He said the NPC had opted for the second option and “because of that today we have our elected government to shape our future according to our own choice and design.”


Talking about Naga political pilgrimage, he said, “Life be it individual or a nation is pilgrimage of learning, a voyage of discovery in which our mistaken views are corrected, our distorted notion adjusted to reality, our shallow opinions deepened and some of our vast ignorance diminished. Perhaps the greatest need in the current political scenario in Nagaland is to recognize and conform with the contemporary realities and steer with them. All indications show that we are on the threshold of a new dawn for a united, peaceful and progressive Nagaland and in this new dispensation the people of Nagaland in general and the leaders in particular should completely bury their hatchets and with true Christian spirit reinvent, redesign and revolutionize the new Nagaland to measure up to the sanctity of the declaration of our Churches Nagaland for Christ.”


“Only those who are in the dark night can see the stars. Similarly those who were actively involved in the situation of the time know the full story,” Dr Jamir said.