Divito Vese
NEHU, Shillong
Observing the whole scenario of the ongoing Naga political talks, one may say that it has reached a very critical point where the fate of the Nagas are to be decided by signing the final political agreement. Opinions still appear to be divided among the Nagas and bulk of the people seems confused, with one group ready to ink the final agreement and one group on the other end reluctant to sign the final agreement without a flag and constitution. It's NSCN-IM vs the NNPGs on the fray. This seems to have given a favouring circumstance to the Government of India to further divide the Nagas as it is evident from the attitude of the Indian Government. The Govt. of India now trying to condition the Naga negotiators is something distasteful and far from the principles of peace process. This has also created chaos and tensions among the Nagas so to say.
Whatever may be the case, I’m in no way going to stress much on history and what-not sort of controversies arising out of the ongoing Naga political talks at this juncture. Much has been said about its pros and cons and I’m sure most people are already aware by now. For this reason, I want to rather make my arguments very specific. First things first, I want our leaders to know that the decision they are going to take today is going to decide the future of the Nagas, especially the youths who will continue to live and carry forward the Naga freedom struggle even after they are long gone. Therefore, they should know that this fight is not just for themselves but so much so for their Children and generations to come and any unwise decision on their part would be most unfortunate. From this perspective, i want to put forth two significant points i.e. 1.Any decision should be farsighted and admissible to all the Nagas. 2. Under no circumstance, any solution arriving out of the political settlement should put the rights of the Nagas at stake. In the event of any untoward eventuality, the ultimate blame will be on the leaders who are spearheading the Naga movement.
In fact, I so hope that our leaders have not forgotten where we started. Our struggle does not just mean economic solution. Our struggle is a struggle of freedom and right to self determination. In this sense, our sovereignty, our rights, the struggle of our freedom fighters and untold miseries suffered by the Nagas at the mercy of the Indians in the past can never be compensated with mere economic package and financial assistance. However, with some leaders hurrying to ink the final agreement compromising the rights of the Nagas left me thinking if the whole struggle is for sovereignty or mere economic package and monetary gain. Where is our dignity?
At this juncture, it is erroneous on the part of the Govt. of India to come to any conclusion by taking only some few people on board as primary stakeholders and without consulting all the stakeholders in general who are still not crystal clear about the agreement. And it is more unfortunate with Naga negotiators and civil society groups doing little or nothing about it. If at all our leaders happen to go ahead without considering this ground reality, we are likely to end up in distressing situation with another decades of bloodshed and turmoil, which is unthinkable. Therefore, enough time should be given to the negotiating parties to go back to the roots for consulting the stakeholders and come back with a majority will if at all the agreement is to be signed.
As a concerned youth, it pains me to see this whole scenario of fear, uncertainty and disunity crippling the Nagas. It pains me that many people are such hypocrites who are leading the Nagas to a breaking point. I fear that our history and identity will perish if things are not set right at this point in time. It is unimaginable for the next generation to restart all over again to fight for their rights without knowing their history. By the time the next generation take over, our historical and political identity may vanish into the air. I just hope this will not happen as projected. God forbid.
Therefore, in the midst of a critical situation as this, I want to appeal to all the Naga leaders to come together as one irrespective of territorial differences and protect the rights of the Nagas without shying away from the reality. More so, by keeping in mind that sovereignty is at the core of the hearts of every Naga. It is my plea to all our leaders not to live for themselves but live for their children and generations to come so that our aspirations are achieved in its true sense of the term. Let wisdom prevail in our land. Kuknalim.
