Q Tuccu
President, NSCN (IM)
My dear countrymen,
Today is a proud day for the people of Nagalim Nation. It was on this day forty-five years ago that we took the bold decision to proclaim our sovereign government to become the true ruler of our own country. Naga Republic Day marks the establishment of our government as dictated by our political right in accordance with the international political system and ethics that respect the freedom of the indigenous people. Significantly, this is a day of pride and determination of the Naga people to keep on asserting the God-given rights as a people and as a nation with our own government system based on the sovereign rights.
Ever since we assert our sovereign rights we have never bow down to our aggressor at the cost of surrendering our dignity and pride as a nation. Let us continue to uphold the national principles under which we have reach this far.
Countrymen!
Please keep in mind that Naga Republic Day is a symbol of Naga transition to becoming a free country with our rights respected and honoured in keeping with making a true meaning of the Naga Independence declaration on 14th August, 1947 & Naga plebiscite of 1951. This historic Naga documents are still with the UN archives in New York. Such indelible testament before the UNO is a proof of the Nagas being subjugated and suppressed for more than 70 years by India.
Countrymen,
On this auspicious occasion let us pay tribute to our soldiers and our great freedom fighters and every Naga who had contributed towards the Naga nation making process. Their dedicated services and sacrifices, determination and courage shaped the Naga freedom movement as we find today. With gratitude and acknowledgement, let us put them into our hearts as we continue to follow their footprints of nationalism and patriotism.
The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the same God who gave the Naga nation. This same God gave us the sovereign identity as a nation. Let us be grateful to God as Nagas were bestowed with rich natural wealth. This demanded from us to tread very cautiously by not allowing others to take away our God given sovereign wealth.
Our sovereign wealth that I am speaking about are petroleum, coal, chromites, limestone, coal, nickel, cobalt etc. These are critical minerals that played important role for industrial development, including defence. For quite a long period the government of India has been casting covetous eyes to explore our natural wealth, mainly petroleum but under no circumstances should we allow our mineral wealth to be exploited by our aggressor when they refused to respect the political rights of the Naga people. You must have been aware of the new attempt made by the government of India to intrude into our sovereign ownership rights in Mokokchung district to explore, drill oil and extract the petroleum. India is simply testing our nerves without respecting our history and culture. By our Naga culture we are possessive of our God given wealth with strong attachment to our national identity that provides a sense of legacy and pride as God’s chosen people. The stand taken by the Ao Naga community is an exemplary manner of asserting the Naga national identity and they have courageously given the statement against exploration of petroleum in the land that belongs to them and not to the Indian government.
Countrymen,
It is ironical that NSCN is being blamed for delaying the Naga political solution. But the truth in delaying Naga solution lies with India and it makes no political sense crying foul against NSCN. For more than 27 years when Indo-Naga political talks started India has gone deep into playing divisive politics to keep the Nagas divided on factional lines. The truth is, India wants to lessen the weight of NSCN in the negotiation table for Naga political solution. For this very purpose, Naga National Political Party (NNPGs) was created to counterweight the NSCN’s prized possession, Framework Agreement of 3rd August, 2015 using the Agreed Position of NNPGs. India wants to confuse the Nagas through Agreed Position.
Significantly, the many factions formed with the blessing of the government of India stands nowhere when negotiation for Naga political issue comes. Because, they simply do not know how to negotiate in the manner as demanded by the complexity of the Indo-Naga political conflict as reflected by the historical political right of the Nagas. The irony is, they are negotiated by the government of India from their point of interest, leaving aside the historical and political rights of the Nagas. This is the reason why they landed up signing the Agreed Position prepared by the government of India. This development only expose the ‘yes-yes’ stand of the so-called Naga intellectuals and many civil society organizations leaders who have sold out their moral and ethical standard by hobnobbing with the factions hatched and nurtured by the government of India. This is the worst-case scenario of the Naga history today.
Countrymen,
Let us be awake to the reality that is being played in the ground today. In the name of Naga solution certain forces are treacherously plotting to do away with Naga people’s memorandum as represented by the Naga Club, to Simon Commission 1929, Naga Independence Declaration 1947, and Naga plebiscite 1951. It is unthinkable that Nagas who have tasted the worst political and military pressure of the Indian government for more than 70 years would sell off their rights to India in exchange for a solution under the Indian Constitution. May God forbid creating such abominable mess in the name of Naga political solution, because Nagas are not after a morsel of solution after more than seven decades of blood, sweats and tears.
Countrymen!
Let us stand by our history, culture and constitutional values as we keep on asserting our national identity that we have proudly defended for more than 70 years. The world is now well educated and informed about Naga political struggle and its legitimacy. It was a struggle for our better tomorrow free from political bondage. Our movement is to correct the gross injustice meted to the Nagas after snatching away our political rights and sovereign identity after the departure of the British government from the soil of India. Therefore, we must stand our ground till final justice is delivered and leave the rest to God.
Countrymen,
Our political movement had gone through a series of bloody conflicts as we stood the ground to protect the truth against falsehood. Let us learn from history that truth we follow is our strength. And that had brought us to signing the two historic agreements with the government of India, “unique history of the Nagas as recognized in July 11th, 2002” and “Framework Agreement on 3rd August, 2015”. With these two indelible agreements with the government of India we have done away doubts, lies, myths and distortions and leaving no scope for India to stand up against the truth of history. God is truth and the truth has guided our movement. In God we put our trust and in Him we await justice to be delivered.
Countrymen,
In the face of the challenges confronting us, let us remember that our collective strength lies in our shared vision and unwavering commitment to our mission. As we move forward, let us remain steadfast in our dedication to the cause we have fought, knowing that our efforts will shape a brighter future for our nation.
The history of the Nagas is written with the blood, sweats and tears of numerous Nagas. The Nagas of today should not make their memory short to play with the lives and blood of our fathers, brothers, mothers and sisters who have given up everything for our better tomorrow where there is respect and dignity. Let us stay away from being coward and deceitful as we shall be judged accordingly by our history that is already on record to identify who is who for our rights. How can we forget the hundreds of thousand innocent civilians tormented by the India Army, physically and mentally simply to vent their anger. Many have been massacred in every region of the Nagas and without compunction this bloody killings happened one after another.
History will never forget when one prime minister of India declared that Nagas would be crushed or exterminated without compunction. But Nagas are not alone in the fight for justice. We may be poor but we are strong mentally and spiritually as God never led us down. This is what has brought us this far as truth had protected us all the way. We pray that God would judge the government of India for sanctioning this kind of inhuman treatment upon the Nagas.
Countrymen,
Despite all these acts of inhumanity meted out against the Nagas by the Indian security forces, let us take heart with resilience and courage, for there is God who will be our pillar of strength and justice. On this occasion, I hereby declare that the victims of Yengpang massacre, Matikhrii massacre, Oinam massacre, Mokokchung massacre, Oting massacre etc as “National Martyrs”. In keeping with this spirit, NSCN/GPRN shall not shy away to help and share the pain and sorrow of those children and grand children of National Martyrs. In God we trust for the day to come when we shall celebrate our victory together.
Let us not be shaken and let us not allow ourselves to be fear ridden because of this kind of massacre as recorded by history. There might be many victims who are silently crying for justice with their agonising untold stories where their modesty were violated, dignity robbed and even to the point of getting raped and murdered. NSCN/GPRN would welcome such victims to come forward with courage to have their stories recorded believing that it is not your fault and you didn’t do anything to deserve this. Rest assure that you are not alone as NSCN/GPRN would care to listen to your stories.
In conclusion, I want to express my utmost gratitude for your trust, support, and forbearance. Together, we must continue our journey again defending our political identity as a nation symbolized by our flag and yehzabo.
KUKNALIM
