My Dearest Naga men and women,
At this auspicious day of 74th Naga Independence Day, I am saluting all those who sacrificed their lives for Naga Nation. Equally, I am saluting all the Naga freedom fighters and general public for their tireless efforts and support for the sustenance and survival of our nationhood in the face of immeasurable hardships and challenges from our adversaries who attempted to demean the sovereign rights of the Nagas. Let us not forget to thank our Living and Almighty God for His guidance and protection that far.
We cannot change our precious history and our inheritant freedom cannot be buried under any circumstances. More than 70 years ago, our forefathers officially and openly declared our independence on 14 August 1947 not against any country but in accordance with international norms and India know it very well. We must be proud of our history and who we are because we are not lost people whose sovereign right is recognized internationally.
A saying goes, better late than never. After many decades of blood and tears, both India and the Naga People realized the futility of arms confrontation and engaged political dialogue for resolution of Asia's longest political problem. Today, a ray of hope is dawn for both India and Nagaland, expecting acceptable solution sooner than later. The two Naga political groups-NSCN (IM) and NNPGs must realise the past mistake and come forward to hammer out any form of differences before signing final documents with Gol to avoid possible future blame game. The NNPGs though conglomeration of seven different organizations are one in all fronts. All Nagas are one in political issue; we must build consensus opinion before going for final battle because it will be once and for all.
At this moment, the Naga people are fortunate to have a strong and decisive person Narendra Modi as Prime Minister of India who found a clever and trustworthy person RN Ravi as interlocutor-cum-Governor of Nagaland who is dealing with Naga issue minutely. This seriousness of Narendra Modi indicates earlier solution. Let us hope to see the fruit of our long cherish solution within few months time.
God Bless Nagaland Kuknalirn
74th Naga Independence Day speech by Y Wangtin Naga, President NSCN (R)
