Kaka D Iralu
Was Naga opinion sought or consulted when our neighbor India drafted her Constitution in the late 1940’s? Did any Naga leaders in those days plead with Dr. Ambedkar to incorporate some Naga customary laws into the Constitution of India? The answer being an absolute “NO”, what obligations then has Nagas to uphold the Constitution of India with regards to the ULB 33% women reservation issue or for that matter, any other issues relating to the Constitution of India?
Do Nagas have no laws governing their village democratic republics that they must now be governed by the laws of a foreign Constitution? Will Naga society really fall into pieces and anarchy will reign if Nagas step out from the protective shadow of the Constitution of India? Go and try to befool some fools with your very legally pious Indian rhetoric about the eminent disaster of law and order breakdown if we fail to uphold the Constitution of India. I for one will not be fooled by your pathetic cries calling for taking recourse under the Constitution of India and having to defend it.
I will not be fooled because I know for a fact that Nagas have ruled themselves very justly under their own customary laws for thousands of years long before a modern state called India was born in 1947 an Indian Constitution adopted on 26th November 1949. These customary laws of the Nagas were far more superior to many modern laws and constitutions of the world. Under our own customary laws, there were no special provisions for the protections of some low casts or scheduled castes and tribes- simply because Naga society never bred or brooked any caste systems or low and high tribes. Every citizen of Nagaland was an equal in every aspect and no clan or village or tribe ever ruled over any other clan, village or tribe. In fact, it was only the introduction of the Constitution of India into Nagaland by a few educated Nagas that brought in all these “scheduled tribes”, “backward forward tribe “ and “women empowerment , reservation “NONSENSE into Naga society and polity. All these terms and classifications were totally foreign and alien to our Naga culture and ways of life.
As for our own Naga Federal Yehzabo (Constitution), it is based on our customary laws and it gives equal opportunities to every Naga citizen irrespective of sex or birth. This is clearly spelled out in Part II clause 12 and 13 of our Yehzabo under the Rights of Citizenship.
Clause 12 states: “All citizens irrespective of birth, religion, sex or race shall be equal before the eye of the law.” Clause 13. “There shall be no discrimination against any citizen in political, economic and social matters on account of social status or family origin.”Clause 14, further states: “There shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters of public employment, promotion and recruitment irrespective of clan, community and family origin. In the light of all these facts, Nagas women do not need any “women reservations” because every Naga woman is equal to their male counterparts in every educational, political or social right in the eyes of Naga law.
Now, as the ULB elections issue heads for an open clash (which may even end in bloodshed) in the very near future, where does your Naga duty as a citizen of Nagaland lie? Does your political allegiance lie in your duty “To God and to your country”? Or does your allegiance lie with a foreign Government and its Constitution which harbors even heinous laws like “The Armed Forces Special powers Act”? In the final analysis, the ultimate question will be: “WILL YOU BE A NAGA OR AN INDIAN” on February 1, 2017?
