Dimapur, November 13 (MExN): The Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR) today emphasised the urgent need for cooperation, organisation, mobilisation, and continuous engagement with all stakeholders to achieve an “honourable” and imaginative Naga political solution.
“Do not delay!” it added, stressing that this is not the time to take a backward-looking view of history, no matter how esteemed and dignified it may be.
“To be sure, without abandoning history, the Nagas must move on. Let us not despair at the present snags and unlighted highway,” the Forum stated, while urging for the renewed effort from all stakeholders.
Explaining the context, a press statement from the FNR noted that significant and complex changes, both positive and negative, are occurring on the global stage. “Naga-Land is no exception. Often, the closer to home or within the home, issues become most intractable,” it said.
However, the people of “Naga-Land cannot defend what is ours if we are in conflict within ourselves and with the democratic values and powers that exist,” it asserted.
The Forum also reminded that, as agreed by the Naga Political Groups (NPGs), the September 14, 2022 statement, signed by the NSCN (IM), Collective Leadership, and the Coordinator of the Working Committee, NNPG, must be adhered to.
The statement reads: “WE ARE AWARE OF OUR DIFFERENCES and hence we guard ourselves against rifts that further divide us. We are committed to transcending our differences through cooperation, to be worked out… on the basis of the Covenant of Reconciliation. In this regard, we understand that cooperation which is socially and politically imaginative and prudently concrete is the beginning of nation-building.”
The FNR further noted that since the signing of the Covenant of Reconciliation (CoR) on June 13, 2009, the Nagas have experienced the cessation of violent confrontation, a daily occurrence during the 1990s and 2000s.
“It is therefore imperative that all NPGs and the public know that the CoR is binding and no one shall break this Sacred Covenant signed before God and the people,” it added.
To this end, the Forum cautioned that the warrior instinct of war cries by different individuals and cultural (tribal) groups serves only to pass on information to interested parties and weakens the Naga spirit.
“We must think and act differently without giving in,” it stated, acknowledging this as the missing paradox of the Naga people.
Thus, the FNR called for a “move on without diverting” and for giving it a chance without delay. The public mandate, especially around the Naga “Morung,” should not be taken lightly, it added.
The Forum further contended that to “defend” the relative rights of the Nagas, it is essential to foster cooperation both within the Naga community and with external parties (them).
In doing so, Naga-Land will be protected and strengthened, it held.
