Dear Naga people,
We the Nagas have come to another year of celebrating our National Plebiscite Day of 16th May 2012. On this day 61 years ago, we the Naga people conducted our Voluntary Plebiscite, which demonstrated unequivocally to the Government of India and the world at large that the Nagas were fully in favour of having their own sovereign independent Nation. As a politically mature people and Nation 61 years ago, the Nagas employed democratic means to gauge the will of the people and we hold on to the right to have our wishes properly respected and our democratic rights fully recognised. Indeed, the democratic rights of the Nagas must be recognised by the Government of India, Military Junta of Myanmar and the democratic world at large.
The democratic right of the Nagas will live forever as the historical and political right of the Nagas for sovereignty.
The NNC also reiterates that through the Plebiscite of 1951, the Naga people mandated NNC with the democratic Naga way of empowerment. Accordingly, the Naga people empowered the NNC to be the embodiment of the Naga people and the apex Naga Political Institution. Therefore, this Political Institution and right of the Nagas must be respected and regarded as the main political channel for freedom and sovereignty by the Nagas as a whole.
Today, the NNC remembers once again the pioneers and the National Workers who sacrificed their all for the very cause of Naga sovereignty.
The NNC recently made a political statement on behalf of the Naga people during the official visit of Prince Andrew (on behalf of the Queen Elizabeth, reigning monarch of the United Kingdom) to Nagaland. The NNC protested against the visit of Prince Andrew because of British Government’s betrayal of Naga rights and freedoms. The Naga people did it at the right time, of course, after a long time of more than 60 years. But this will bear fruit indeed .
Prince Andrew said during his maiden visit to Nagaland that ‘’ the future is important”. Yes the future is important indeed for the Naga people for freedom. Therefore, the British Government should do its part to correct the political mistakes of long ago and safeguard the political future of the Nagas as they are morally bound to do.
The NNC also must say today that the Government of India and other political leaders must be reasonable enough to acccept and recognise the very democratic rights of the Naga people instead of dragging out the political problem that has festered for more than 60 long years. India should withdraw her armed forces of occupation from Naga country (Naga inhabited areas) to avoid further warfare and to allow peace and economic development to prevail in the entire region of South East Asia. The NNC have to say again without reservation that the Naga Hoho or FNR or any other NGOs should not be one-sided in the very matter of the Naga National issue of political settlement. Rather the NNC appeals to them once again to bring all the Naga political groups to the table and present a common front to discuss in depth the political future of the Nagas, which is at a critical stage in the Homeland. The NGOs must be neutral and honest in their dealings in the best interests of all concerned parties in the Land. Otherwise they will be held responsible for present and future chaos in the Land.
The NNC emphatically states that those political factions having cease-fire with the Government of India are all bound hand and foot by cease-fire ground rules and cannot not say or do much today. The cease-fire has chained them all and there is no positive sign at all as we see for many years. Past cease-fires like the one in 1964 have also weakened the Nagas. We now face a similar situation in which all the Armed Groups are weakened.
Therefore, the NNC lastly appeals to each and every Naga political group to give up egoistic and hate-filled stands against each other and come together to discuss in depth the Naga political freedom for settlement once and for all in the best interests of all the Naga People and Land.
KUKNALIM.
Speech of Gen. (Rtd.) I. Panger Walling the Working President of Naga National Council on the occasion of 61 years of the Naga National Plebiscite Day of 16th May 2012.
