It is the wonder of wonders that finally "NSCN (IM) responds to articles" through all the local Medias on 20-05-2016. The retired Indian bureaucrats are equally amused and more inclined to believe that it is NSCN (IM) who needs to stop 'whining at the wrong time' and start answering disturbing questions 'at the right time' so as to eliminate suspicion and confusion that they...[NSCN (IM)] in cahoots with R.N. Ravi... have thus far been able to generate. Let it very clearly be understood by the "Collective Leadership" that Naga issue is not an exclusive preserve of NSCN (IM). Every concerned Nagas worth their salt (regardless of whether they are retired Indian bureaucrats or otherwise) are stake holders and therefore has every legitimate right to 'poke their nose' and poke their everything else into this subject to clear their minds since all Naga related issues have direct bearing on their future without exception. The one sided eyewash 'in the form of Consultative Meetings' after the 'Framework Agreement' being referred to had only "sufficiently laid bare" the non-transparent "nature of the Talk" without a clue as to its prospect. Why else should so many awkward questions consistently keep popping up? May I beg to remind the NSCN (IM) that Mr. Bharat Bhushan is a respected mainland senior journalist and not just another street boy making useless noises and that he had qualified his analysis based on internal Naga source close to the ongoing negotiation? It was therefore all the more valid a reason for the NSCN (IM) to have clarified their position on all those sustentative issues that were reflected that everyone anxiously wanted to know, instead of childishly brushing it off as an outsider poking his nose into our Naga business. It is not in anyone's interest to keep dodging the questions unanswered and instead waste time with snide personal remarks against others raising uncomfortable but well meaning questions.
So, yet again as a starter: Have the Nagas been struggling against the invaders these 70 long years to try and salvage their God ordained freedom just so as to have it trampled under the Communist regime of NSCN (IM) yet again through their so-called Independent NSCN (IM) Communist Naga Constitution supposedly being incorporated as an integral part of the Indian Constitution? While the notion of an "Independent Naga Constitution" within the Indian Constitution is a total hogwash of a theory based on which NSCN (IM) and Mr. R.N. Ravi have perhaps been loud mouthing the subject of 'shared sovereignty', there is no such thing as 'shared' sovereignty. Sovereignty is indivisible...a part of a whole cannot be the whole neither can a whole be a part. Be that as it may, it is more than unfortunate and certainly not very amusing for the Nagas to be watching The Chairman and the General Secretary of the NSCN (IM) 'failing to catch up' with all the phenomenal changes taking place around the world while they obliviously continue to swim in the stagnant pool of the past. That they happened to be in China and got cultured during 1966 'Cultural Revolution' that swept across China is unfortunate for the Nagas but an understandable infection where they individually are concerned. What is not understandable however, is their dogged entrenchment in the outdated Chinese philosophy discarded even by the Chinese themselves. There is no denying that they have benefitted immensely by adopting Mao Zedong's 'Red Book' philosophy that 'power flows through the barrel of a gun' and has thoroughly proven it to the fear stricken populace over and over again with their AK 47 induced multiple 'sovereignty tax' extortion which has unquestionably contributed towards opulent display of the personal wealth of almost all the big fish swimming in the communist cesspool of NSCN all over Nagaland and beyond, no matter which faction of the NSCN they belong. Their overzealous wealth and landed property amassing endeavours is in stark contradiction with their stated policy as enshrined in Part V: Article 1 and 2 of their 'Yehzabo' on the subject of "Nationalisation of land and forest and private ownership" respectively. Is it the intention of the "Collective Leadership" (whichever factions they may belong) to impose this law on the masses but not on themselves? Otherwise, if they truly believe in the fairness of law enshrined in their "Yehzabo" their desperate efforts to amass personal wealth at the cost of the populace would be a meaningless exercise if it is all going to be 'Nationalised' in the end...don't you think?
Nagas would certainly like to believe that the NSCN (IM) has the best interest of the Nagas at heart but they are certainly not doing any favours to themselves to convince the Nagas of the same by their suffocating secrecy and hedging around the bush without addressing the core questions which have been troubling the minds of every well meaning sensible Naga. Such an arrogant attitude will positively generate more suspicion rather than foster confidence. Please, with folded hands we therefore plead...if NSCN (IM) has nothing to hide from the Nagas of Nagaland, answer the questions forthrightly and try to garner support of all the Nagas without doubts. It is the only positive option available.
Khekiye K. Sema IAS (Rtd) Upper Forest Colony, Kohima E-mail ID: kksema@gmail.com
