Speech of BRIG. (RETD.) S. Singnya, Kedahge, Federal Government of Nagaland
My beloved Country Men and Women, I am deeply honored to address you on this historic occasion of the 61st Republic Day of our Nation. I thank our Almighty God for His Guidance, Sustenance and Protection. I honour with gratitude our pioneers for laying a firm political foundation because of which we are able to stand up today with pride and dignity.
On this momentous day, I salute and pay my homage to our martyrs who have made the supreme sacrifice for the Naga Cause and the many freedom fighters for the vision and their selfless services. May their unyielding spirit and selflessness continue to inspire, guide and strengthen us.
Nagaland became a Republic on 22nd March, 1956 when the Naga National Council convened the First Tatar Hoho Session which brought together the Free Nagas represented by the Hongking Government and the Naga National Council representing the then Naga Hills District to establish the Federal Government of Nagaland. With the National Mandate immutably entrusted to them in 1951 and acknowledging that the Almighty God alone is the Supreme Sovereign over this whole world, and the authority of the people to be exercised on the territory is a sacred trust from God, our leaders established our National institution based on the modern principles and ideals of Democracy, Justice, Liberty and Fraternity.
Our pillar and strength lie on the historic Declaration of Independence of August 14th, 1947 and the Plebiscite of 16th May, 1951 for a Sovereign Nagaland. The momentous Declaration and the irrevocable pledge created the foundation giving birth to and also shaping the political course of our people. Nagas as a people have an ardent desire for peace and for cessation of hostility among the Naga National Workers. We also prescribe to this desire of our people. While recognizing the right of every Naga to desire for peace and the need of the Naga National Workers to reconcile and unite, there is also the need to be watchful so that the aspirations of our people is not betrayed nor forget the sacred pledge made by our people.
We are unique as a people and as a Nation. We chose to determine, forge and shape our own destiny with dignity, integrity and freedom and we have withstood the tides that sought to weaken and destroy our spirit. Right from the beginning till date, our Nation has been facing powerful forces opposed to our Cause who have sought to weaken us by adopting the policy of Divide and Rule and sowed the seed of animosity and suspicion. But the Federal Government of Nagaland will never bow down to any internal or external pressure. We also reaffirm our commitments to uphold the Covenant of Reconciliation based on the historical and political Rights of the Nagas initiated by the Forum for Naga Reconciliation.
The Federal Government of Nagaland stands committed and steadfast in our resolve to uphold the pledge of our people to be a Sovereign Nation, free from the interference of any foreign power to decide, determine and shape our own destiny. The Federal Government of Nagaland regards the 16th Point Agreement and the Shillong Accord of 1975 as total betrayals of the Naga Cause, the stumbling blocks in the attainment of our long cherished dream. We have to always be vigilant and constantly be on our guard so that such acts of treachery to the Naga Cause are not committed again.
Our Republic has been instituted along linguistic lines based on the concept of the Federal system of Governance but as a Sovereign Nation, we have no tribe, native or indigenous persons, we are all citizens of the Republic of Nagaland. As we commemorate the 61st year as a republic, we take time to celebrate the lives and courage of those who have guided us with their vision and rededicate ourselves to the same path without losing our national identity. To achieve our goal we must move forward. The choices before us is to talk about our past and reminisce with regret and avoid following the path charted for us or to place ourselves within the historical framework of the past by placing ourselves in it and follow the path till our historical rights become our rights expressed in full freedom and zest.
In today’s modern world we have become divided in defining who we were and what we must be now. Our nationalism is in danger because we seem to be losing the spirit that gave birth to our nationalism. We are cowed down by modernism and ideology that says “the world is changing and we too must change.” But this is the language of those who play the politics of convenience and adaptation. Knowledge and adaptation is important as a nation but we must not import knowledge that may destroy the very fabric of our nationalism. Rights, whether it be birth right, historical right, political right or any other will not change. Thus our nationalism at the threshold of losing its identity and the fear of evolving into a nationalism of convenience stands before us as our greatest challenge. We have to realize the danger of attempting to popularize our national issues in the same plane as existential knowledge.
The Federal Government of Nagaland has hope in the fact that we must travel back to the past to reclaim our rights that was declared in unity and trust and struggle forward together with pride and dignity. We must continue to show the world that we have the moral strength and power to suffer for truth and not allow our oppressors to use civilization and advancement as tools to suppress our rights to live as a free nation. In the midst of opposition and distrust from others we must be strong and free ourselves from our greatest enemy within ourselves which makes our minds captives of our actions. I believe that there is a future before us and that future is waiting for those who are morally strong, determined and resolute to make it their own.
The Federal Government of Nagaland remains strong and committed to what our leaders of yesterday had enshrined for us as a nation. Our history is our inheritance and to sell out this would mean a total sell out of our rights! May it be known to one and all that we do not live in other people’s space and time, our land belongs to us and our history is our history. What is ours cannot be crushed by might. Our strength lies in this and it will forever be until such time when we can all say, the end has come and a new beginning has begun.
May God give us the grace to help us to be patient and the wisdom to guide us in difficult times as we journey forward.
God Bless My Nagaland. Kuknalim.
