Rev. Dr. V.K. Nuh
I am greatly impressed to read the article written by Tuisem Shishak which appeared in Nagaland Post on 24th July 2007.
I fully endorse his sense of justice dealing with the present Naga National imbroglio. I want to follow his steps sentence by sentence and confess myself, how my own community Chakhesang must have had done wrong and wounded someone. A sad history is not desirable to retrospect or to narrate the ugly situations that took place within last sixty years of conflict. But there is no other way to escape. We have to confess all of our mistakes.
Tuisem Shishak identified all weaknesses of Tangkhul community and it is a reality. In the same manner all other Naga Tribes have to confess our weaknesses. Major General Morgan said “It is not weakness, but strength to admit to the error of history and to exercise the past so as to be able to work for reconciliation in partnership”.
Today, NSCN (I-M) came back home with a hope to settle 60 years of conflict with India for Naga sovereignty. In my opinion Government of India is dividing Naga people, if she does not respect Naga democratic principles.
She is aware of the past history how talks came to a deadlock. Any talk must be multi-tract and bear transparency to the Naga people. It belongs to the Naga people. Therefore any settlement must be honorable and acceptable to the people.
It has come to the knowledge of public that consultation has been on and in for a hectic preparation; the perplexity is will it be open to Naga people what chartered demands has been submitted to the Government of India? Will it be an honorable settlement without taking confidence of NSCN (K) and NNC and above all blessings from the Naga Public? Otherwise it will only be another piece-meal settlement.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “The ultimate question for a responsible person is not how he heroically extricating himself from the affairs of the days. “No” he said is how the coming generation are supposed to live”.
Sixty years of Naga people’s struggle for political freedom has been a people’s movement with political vision. That is why the public have been suffering all along for the same length of time. Each individual who took the risk and have given his/her life for the cause of Naga freedom equally share the same amount of respect and honor; and therefore, the Nagas cannot afford to forget their selfless effort and the price they have paid for us with their precious blood for the coming generations.
But Nagas must remember what Daniel Webster said; “Freedom and prosperity are fragile things. They are not given to all man and they must receive with thanksgiving and protect with vigilance, God grant liberty only to those who love it and are always ready to guard and defend it”.
Do the Naga freedom fighters prepare to accept each other? And willing to stop killing each other? If you can make cease-fire with Indians, what is the difficulty to make Cease-fire with your own brothers and sisters? We cannot dream of our freedom as long as we allow oppressive attitude to take the better part of us. We must find out ways at any cost to succeed and bring our dreams to reality.
We have done many mistakes collectively and individually during a span of over 60 years of our struggle. Let us question ourselves who is free from error, shortcomings or weaknesses. Therefore, we must prepare to extinguish internal fire first. Through all this, Naga National groups must have the courage to admit the past mistakes to bring about National Reconciliation. Let us remember how God is dealing with His people.
“When the people of Israel left Egypt, all the males were already circumcised. However, during the forty years the people spent crossing the desert, none of the baby boys had been circumcised. Also, by the end of that time all the men who were of fighting age when they left Egypt had died because they had disobeyed the Lord, just as he had sworn, they were not allowed to see the rich and fertile land that he had promised their ancestors. The sons of these men had never been circumcised, and it was this new generation that Joshua circumcised. After the circumcision was completed, the whole nation stayed in the camp until the wounds had healed. The Lord said to Joshua, ‘Today I have removed from you the disgrace of being slaves in Egypt”. That is why the place was named Gilgal, the name it still has’.
Joshua 5: 4-9
