DIMAPUR, MARCH 26 (MExN): The Eastern Naga National Organisation (ENNO) has appealed to all Naga people to “work for national unity based on true history,” and urged young people to “rise up and work hard to achieve our national goal.”
In a speech on the occasion of the 71st Nagaland Republic Day, President of the ENNO MP Meyah said that following the declaration of Naga Independence on August 14, 1947, the “national Government known as the Federal Government of Nagaland (FGN) was formed on this day, the 22nd March, 70 years ago, as the Nagas were a free nation.” “This was done by the Naga national leaders who were once under the British Colonial rule and the Free Nagas, based on the Yehzabo (Constitution) of Nagaland which was written by the Naga National Council (NNC) in 1950 on the background of Naga traditional democracy, and approved by the NNC,” he said.
He stated that traditional Naga democracy “is handed down to us by our forefathers as an inheritance, and there is no room for us to replace it with foreign political ideology such as socialism, fascism or no landlord, no class system, no gender discrimination, women and men have equal rights in our society.” It however said that “some of our leaders adopted socialism 46 years ago, which fragmented the solidarity of our nation. To date, we are facing great problem of national disunity, as all Nagas prefer our own traditional democracy over foreign political ideologies.”
To build a robust national unity, Meyah asked “young leaders of the NSCN today have to realize the mistakes of their past leaders and stand for the Naga traditional democracy and stand as a Nation (not demanding any political status under foreign nation), and strive to achieve our national goal based on true history.” Unless the NSCN leaders review their stance, there is no hope for national unity at present. As we all understand the importance and the need of national unity, we need to take the right steps in our time,” it said.
“We are proud of being an independent nation, because our pioneering leaders did the right thing in their time without any mistake, and left us their legacy to follow. Why then do some leaders stand for socialism, creating disunity and make us fight against each other?” Meyah questioned. He termed it “unwise” and said that this should be stopped immediately and revised for a better tomorrow. “Also, we are proud of being a Christian nation and stand of Nagaland for Christ,” he added.
