Morung Express News
Kohima | October 30
During the lead in general meeting to the centenary celebration of the Naga Club today, former Rajya Sabha MP Kyhomo Lotha shared a brief reminiscence of his tenure as a Caretaker of the Naga club building during 1964-1969.
As a young boy, Lotha claimed to have witnessed the killing and recognized the murderer of Zasibituo Nagi, the first Naga Martyr in Kohima in 1952. Lotha also mentioned that he witnessed Nehru’s visit to Kohima with Myanmar PM U Nu.
During his term as the Caretaker, the original Naga Club building was occupied by the Forest Department, Government of Nagaland. In lieu of that, the government allotted a small building (present day Ozone Café) in the centre of the town (which is now Razhü point).
“At the time, to be frank, I did not realize the importance of the Club as a young man. I was neither elected nor appointed but entrusted to look after the building. It was in a very bad shape so donation was raised by some elders, and I had to see that it was renovated and repaired,” said Lotha, adding that furniture and indoor games such as Table Tennis and carom were added in the new office.
During the early formation of the Kohima Town Commitee, Lotha stated that Dr. Nehlhouzhü Kire appealed the Naga Club to accommodate a space to run their office. "For the public’s interest, we gave a room for him to start the Kohima Town Commitee," said Lotha.
Similarly, when Kohima College was created, there was not enough space for the college to run its office, another room was alloted to the college. "No party, Kohima Town Committee or Kohima College ever claimed that place. They knew it belonged to Naga club," said Lotha.
With time, the Club Members dwindled. Lotha mentioned that since there were no registered members there were no collection of members' fees, hence the Club did not have any funds nor activities. Acknowledging the gathering of the meeting on October 30, Lotha mentioned that during his term there were rarely any meetings and usually only 10 or 12 members gathered.
“Those who came were few. Today after seeing this, I feel like crying because those days we didn’t have meetings. There were few members, there were no registered members. It was just an empty house. But what I understood and what they said was that we have to keep this Naga Club alive,” asserted Lotha.
The centenary celebration of the Naga Club is scheduled to be held at the Local Ground Kohima on November 29.
