Keynote Address by Neingulo Krome, Secretary General, Naga Peoples Movement for Human Rights and Executive Council Member of Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact on the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples celebration held at Kohima College, Kohima, Nagaland on the 9th of August 2016.
No United Nations-system body has ever adopted a definition of the concept of “indigenous peoples”. The prevailing view today is that no formal universal definition of the term is necessary, given that a single definition will inevitably be either over- or under-inclusive, making sense in some societies but not in others. For practical purposes, the commonly accepted understanding of the term is provided in the Jose R. Martinez Cobo’s Study on the Problem of Discrimination against Indigenous Populations. The working definition reads as follows:
“Indigenous communities, peoples and nations are those which, having a historical continuity with pre-invasion and pre-colonial societies that developed on their territories, consider themselves distinct from other sectors of the societies now prevailing on those territories, or parts of them. They form at present non-dominant sectors of society and are determined to preserve, develop and transmit to future generations their ancestral territories, and their ethnic identity, as the basis of their continued existence as peoples, in accordance with their own cultural patterns, social institutions and legal system.”
They are called Tribal Peoples, First Peoples, Native Peoples, etc. and by many other names where the Indigenous Peoples constitute about 5% of the world’s population, yet account for about 15% of the world’s poorest people. Asia is home to two-third majority of the world’s Indigenous peoples, which accounts for more than 200 million out of the estimated 370 million indigenous peoples across the world, where Nagas constitutes about 4 million. International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples is observed on August 9 every year to promote and protect the rights of the Indigenous Peoples, which was first pronounced by the General Assembly of the United Nations in December 1994 marking the date of the 1st Meeting of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations of the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in 1982.
When the United Nations declared 1993 as the International Year of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, with the theme; “New Partnership”, Nagas also observed and celebrated the International Year along with the rest of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, through a yearlong series of events, which culminated, with the Celebration of the NAGA WEEK from December 1-5, 1993. As a prelude to the celebration of the Naga Week, NPMHR and NSF conducted local level phase-wise discussions with Naga representatives from various walks of life from different Naga areas and elaborately studied the contents and relevance of the Preambular and the Operative Draft Declaration on Indigenous Peoples as agreed by the UN Working Group in their first reading.
Thereafter, we defined our status as Indigenous Peoples and submitted our own prerogative, and I quote just two points out of 6+ points submission; and they are; “We, the Nagas, an indigenous people of Asia would like to point out that our situation does not fall under the category of the draft declaration. Our case is different and distinct in itself while the problems of most of the other indigenous peoples relate to recognition of their rights within nation states and they seek redressal of their problems with Governments concerned, our case is an indigenous people under forced occupation and seeking recognition of their right of place as a sovereign state.”
“We would like to point out that Nagas are one of the indigenous peoples in the world who had conceived and lived by our own concept of distinct people and sovereignty since time immemorial. Although our country was not a nation in the western concept when the British conquered part of our land, it is true that we governed ourselves according to our own concepts of state-craft, customs and traditions. It was only in the 1950s that out of necessity to make the rest of the world understand our nationhood that modern form of Government was adopted. And unlike many indigenous areas in the world, we are still majority in our own country and we exercise full local self-governments. Our customary laws still prevail today.”
As we celebrate this International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, we are doing so fully conscious of the fact that it was our elders and leaders of the Naga Political movements, starting from the Naga Club to the present day Naga political Groups who have protected our rights, our lands and kept it safe and secured through their self-less sacrifices during the most crucial and painful period of our history. And today, we are basking in the glory of their achievements, notwithstanding pending an honorable and acceptable solution, juxtaposed with factionalism and uncontrollable internal contradictions.
However, if we look at our situation and compare our status with other struggling Indigenous peoples of the world, we are still in a much better position than many of them. Today we are celebrating this day on the theme “Protect our rights, our lands” as lands of Indigenous peoples everywhere are not only being exploited but forcefully taken away. But fortunately for us Nagas, our lands still belong to us and nobody can take them away from us if we decide not to do so. We are also able to assert our rights in any which way although faced with opposition from occupational forces, but which is ultimately acknowledged and recognized.’ And even if the “Principles” of the Naga Political Movement do not recognize or accept the imposition of Indian laws and its Constitutional legality over us, the very fact remains that Naga way of life and their lands and its resources are protected under Article 371 A of the Indian Constitution, which is also just an abstract from the 16 – Point Agreement – which again is a luxury when compared with other Indigenous peoples in many parts of the world, including those in India itself.
Therefore, based on the fact, that India has signed Ceasefires with Naga Political Groups and held Peace Talks and political negotiations even in the past, and are continuing to do so even now which has sustained for 19 years with ground-breaking admissions and agreements on its part in between, if a political settlement is to be made, will it not be above all the piece-meal appeasements of the past that Nagas have rejected during the past several decades of our political struggle. This I think the present Naga generation ought to know and speak out at the right time. For too long, those of us who claim to be championing the cause of your future have stifled your voices with our petty differences, prolonged the human sufferings of the Naga people in general and has denied the growth of the society to its fullness. Take your future into your hands and join the youth of the world who are now saying – “nothing about us without us”.
