
Presently the various Naga Nationalist are involved in ‘Media War’ which I believe is not taking us anywhere except creating more confusion to the already confused state. Any sensible Nagas know what had happened in the long history of our struggle for self determination. None of the faction can claim to be the sole representative of the Nagas. Every group has its own right and wrong, therefore instead of writing against one another, we all must work together towards the objective which had started five decades ago.
The war of words in the media must be stop at the earliest. Will you gain anything by denouncing the other faction? It has sown more seed of hatred and divisive forces among the Nagas. Let the Naga civil society judge whether a particular faction is true to the Naga cause or not by observing the works of each faction.
The Naga public has given the utmost support to the nationalists right from its inception to this very day. It is the public who fed the nationalist when they were in jungle; it is the public who gave shelter and protection when the nationalist were hunted by the India Army; it is the public who generously contributed their wealth, energy and resources to sustain the cause of the Nagas; it is the public who came out to protest against the attrocities of the India Army committed on the Nagas; it is the public who supported the demands of integration of the Naga areas; it is the public who shed tears on their knees praying for the safety of the Naga Nationalists. The public has thus far faithfully stood for the Naga cause, faced against all odds of opposition forces, bravely faced the hardships of life and silently suffered untold miseries and humiliation. But what did the public gain in return? It is threat, intimidation, kidnapping, extortion and killing which had foreshadowed the ultimate vision of the Nagas. Is this the way our nationalist pay back to those who have been kind to them? Does the nationalist exist for the Nagas or the Nagas exist for the nationalist?
The Naga common people are crying for peace, reconciliation and to stop fratricidal killing. will the nationalist heed to this cry? Every Naga want to live in a peaceful atmosphere with our rights of self determination. we want to see the Nagas live together as a free nation. This is what we have fought in the past and we are still fighting for. The freedom of the Nagas is neither in extortion, threat and kidnapping nor it is in writing against others and killing our own people. The public have listen to the nationalist for the past fifty years, will now the nationalist listen to the public? Let the Naga civil society have a final say to decide our future and its course of action.
Asher Rhakho
Nagarjan, Dimapur.