DIMAPUR, MARCH 29 (MExN): Three senior leaders of the GPRN/NSCN, on behalf of Konyak and Phom national workers, have expressed support to GPRN/NSCN President, General Rtd MB Neokpao Konyak and Ato Kilonser N Kitovi Zhimomi.
In a joint statement issued through the MIP of the GPRN/NSCN, Deputy Kilonser Chennyeim Konyak, Deputy Kilonser Khampei Konyak, and Tatar Bauloi Phom stated that “there is no question of GPRN/NSCN Konyak and Phom national workers joining NSCN (IM).”
This statement, they stated, was issued “on behalf of more than two hundred and fifty Konyak and Phom civil and military workers attending the annual budget session.”
The three senior leaders said it is “wrong for anyone to run away and claim allegiance of all Konyak and Phom National workers. It is unthinkable for us to follow any leader who abandons his men and shout victory from the opposite camp.”
They affirmed that the GPRN/NSCN is a “people’s organization, having sound political vision and practical wisdom to translate the desire and will of the people of Nagaland into reality. We will bestow all respect, faith and trust upon them.”
The three leaders claimed that the GPRN/NSCN Konyak Region and Phom Region are intact, while stating that “Nagaland requires a political future decided and agreed upon by the people of Nagaland themselves. Our children and grand children must be saved from suppression and exploitation of a new kind.”
They further alleged that General Rtd Kholi Konyak’s recent decision to join the NSCN (IM) was an act for “his own benefit and perhaps for his children.” “It is never in the interest of Konyaks or Phoms or for the Nagas. Our commitment to the Naga struggle is a pledge, a commitment and a sacrifice. It is not a commodity to be purchased or turned into a different colour at will. Leadership is a sacred trust of God upon humans,” they added, while accusing General Rtd Kholi Konyak of having “surrendered this sacred trust…”
“Now that the dust has settled down, it is clear to the civil and military workers of Konyak and Phom region that having absconded from work on health ground, on the morning of 12th March 2016, he signed a document, willfully joining NSCN (IM),” they further alleged.
They said that “leaders come and go yet Baba Kholi’s exit shall be the most unceremonious one in recent history and in our hearts. Our loyalty is not to a person, we are for the Naga Nation.”
The three leaders stated that the Military and Civil National Workers from Konyak and Phom Region “have always maintained comradeship and brotherhood in our social and political life.” “We respected and cherished Baba Kholi Konyak as a genuine leader having unshakable political stand and fatherly conscience towards his subjects.” They however said that “we were never his personal army at any point of time. We are servants of Naga nation. The value of any man vanishes once a surrender is documented.”
On behalf of the Konyak and Phom national workers, the three leaders pledged allegiance to theGPRN/NSCN led by Gen. (Retd.) MB Neokpao, President of GPRN/NSCN. “We look up to him to lead the Naga people with boldness that characterized his military career. He commands our respect and reverence,” they added.
