Joshua Thong
Your open letter, "The Indo-Naga issue vis-à-vis China and Myanmar (an open letter)," published by the Morung Express and Nagaland Post on December 6 and December 7, 2022, is appreciated, and thank you for highlighting the issue, but it is also a no thank you for attempting to confuse and brainwash various readers of your open letter. If all Nagas involved act in the manner you described the other Naga Nationalist organizations and their movement below,
“Moreover, India has created militias in the form of factions of political groups to fight India’s proxy war, while inversely claiming themselves to be Naga nationalists, to loot and hunt down our own people thus exacerbating the Indo-Naga issue. Preposterously, placing these militias as political groups, factions and insurgents fighting to secede from the Indian union, India has now played another trick to overshadow the Indo-Naga issue by having so-called peace talks with these interlopers. These illegal militia groups have donned the sheep’s clothing masquerading as Naga nationalists and are willing to come to terms with India’s dictated negotiations, whereby, further compromising our demographic and geographic structure and also international boundaries, especially with China. The outcome of this circumstance will have pernicious impact on the already strained Indo-China relations. Nagaland should not be made to pay for the problems of her neighbours. To commensurate this transgression by India and her paid professional militias masquerading as Naga nationalists, China must recognize the legitimacy of the Independent Federal Republic of Nagaland.”
The organization you are representing today is no different because it has given up the Nagas' legitimate rights. There are enough circumstances that can be uncovered on the action of the Naga National Council (NNC) on why the Nagas are in this situation today because of the very organization you are representing today. There is also enough evidence to show that the NNC's claim to be the legitimate Naga National Organization is ridiculously invalid because:
1. If the NNC was a true organization fighting for the Nagas' legitimate rights, why did it take a soft approach to the creation of Nagaland within the Union of India by dividing the Naga homeland?
2. Why did the NNC as an organization, and AZ Phizo as NNC president, fail to condemn the Shillong Accord when it was signed by members of the very organization you are now representing?
3. If the Nagas believed that signing the Shillong Accord was the right decision, the NNC-A you represent today would have been recognized as the sole Naga nationalist organization; however, this was not the case, and people were forced to leave the organization that had surrendered the Nagas' legitimate rights. Because of the NNC's wrong decision, a few NNC leaders, including late S.S.Khaplang, late Isak Chishi Swu, and Thuingaleng Muivah, had to form the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) in 1980 to carry on the fight for the restoration of Nagas' legitimate rights.
4. What has the NNC you represent today been waiting for in the Chedema Peace Camp until today? You appear to be wasting your time, and if the organization you represent is serious about defending Naga rights, you should leave the Peace Camp and start fighting for the right cause. Please highlight your organization's achievements since the establishment of Chedema Peace Camp until today.
5. Count how many organizations with the same name exist today if you claimed today that the organization you represent is the only Naga national organization fighting for the Nagas' legitimate rights. The organization you are representing today NNC-A is also a faction of the NNC.
With the above questions and answers, the Nagas and the rest of the world can easily determine who is truly defending and working for the Nagas' legitimate rights, who is not, and who is simply pretending to be the only rightful organization, dressed in sheep's clothing in your own language. For many Nagas, the organization you represent today, the NNC-A, is a surrendered, defunct, or toothless organization, or simply another faction of the NNC, because all you did to claim legitimacy was wait inside the Chadema Peace Camp and make a few noises here and there. Finally, the reason Nagas are so divided today is due to people like you attempting to spread venom everywhere, as evidenced by your above-quoted passage, rather than working for Naga unity or understanding.
