DIMAPUR, FEBRUARY 12 (MExN): 20 Church leaders from Nagaland today issued an appeal for wisdom and conscience to prevail over all short-term considerations and self-interests.
The church leaders in a joint statement stated that the ongoing crisis has “revealed the truth about how we can limit and destroy ourselves. What needs to be done to match this perilous moment by the people, and our leaders in particular, has become clear.”
It asked the government and the NTAC/JCC not to act against the “dictates of your God-given conscience.” The statement asked all sides to “tone down their rhetorical positions and justifications so that the current tensions may de-escalate and allow space for creative interventions and dialogue.”
It urged the Chief Minister to demonstrate “able-leadership by exercising your moral judgement and acting on your conscience to do what is right and needed at this juncture to avert violence, and pave the way for genuine dialogue.” To the leaders of organizations “who are leading the resistance against the faulty process and imposition of policies made without the Naga peoples’ informed consent,” the statement asked them to “resist from any form of violent confrontation, because violence will only yield more violence.”
And to Nagas, it asked: “Let us seize this moment of extreme crisis as an opportunity to exercise Naga values to respect and uphold women rights. This is an opportunity to re-examine old models and practices, and together, through a people’s dialogue and consultation begin the tedious democratic process of creating inclusive and empowering models in which Naga women, men and youth can respectfully participate and decide the course of our common future.”
