Three friends in traditional attire at the Phom Day celebration marking 74 years of peace, organised by the Dimapur Phom Union at Ao Senden Riju, Purana Bazar, Dimapur, on June 6. (Morung Photo)
Morung Express News
Dimapur | June 6
‘Tribalism and favouritism are destroying Naga society,’ Eastern Nagaland People’s Union Dimapur (ENPUD) President NT Thamlong Phom said Saturday, even as he called on the Naga people to draw inspiration from the Phom community’s decades-long commitment to peace and unity.
He was speaking at the Phom Day celebration marking 74 years of peace, organised by Dimapur Phom Union at Ao Senden Riju, Purana Bazar, Dimapur. The event was held under the theme “Towards the Platinum, Peace, Beneficiaries & the Obligations.”
Thamlong said that while Nagas are an intelligent and capable people, the absence of peace continues to prevent them from realising their full potential. “In the absence of peace, their abilities and potential cannot be fully utilised,” he said.
Noting a paradox in contemporary Naga society, he observed that despite the advancement of education and development in present times, peace remains lacking in society. He said earlier generations, may not have been educated or formally learned, they possessed wisdom and good sense.
Highlighting the significance of the occasion, he said, Phom Day commemorates the historic decision of the pioneers in Longleng 74 years ago to forsake the practice of headhunting by burying their weapons in the ground and sealing the pact with their spit, once and for all, to ensure lasting unity and peace.
Thamlong said the community has been leading the way for peace since the beginning. He described the observance as a reminder of the foresight shown by the forebears who chose unity over conflict.
