Apropos the article “Indigenous Rongmei deprived in their own land” by Romeo Gangmei, published in certain local dailies, we would like make some clarifications to Mr.Gangmei with regard to his imprudent mentioning of a specific community.
To begin with, we have nothing against Mr. Gangmei’s claim that the Rongmeis are an indigenous tribe of Nagaland and should be recognized as such. Maybe the Rongmeis are indeed being deprived of a deserved right and Mr. Gangmei has every right to bring up the issue. But he has no right to do so with blatant disregard to the sentiments of another community. His intention might have innocuous, but as innocuous as it might seem, he ought to understand that the way he mentioned our tribe (Kuki) in his article was liable to hurt our sentiments and also that it had the bearings of communal antagonism. Since there was no justifiable reason to bring up the name of another community, one wonders if his article wasn’t tinted with communal prejudice and ignoble motives.
We would like to inform Mr. Gangmei that, though a non-Naga tribe, the Kukis of Nagaland were recognized as one of the 16 major tribes of Nagaland because we were active participant and had, in our capacity, equally contributed to the Naga Political struggles from the very beginning ( Naga Club). Needless to say we still are, and as such, are entitled to all the social, economic and political rights accruing from the struggles.
So it would be wise on Mr. Gangmei’s part and it is also our request to him, to maintain a certain level of courtesy and accord due respect to the sentiments of other communities in future and weigh his thoughts before putting them into words.
Palal Guite, Thathang,
M.Singson, Ngahsy Thomsong
Dimapur
