A section of the mass during the Global Naga Mass Rally organised by Naga Student Union Delhi (NSUD) in collaboration with Naga community in Delhi on February 23. (Photo Courtesy: Vijayan)
New Delhi February 23, (MExN): Thousands of Nagas living in Delhi today staged a peaceful rally in the national capital against the prolonged Indo-Naga peace process which has not seen major breakthrough for over two decades.
The historic rally, was organised by the Naga Student Union Delhi (NSUD) in collaboration with Naga community in Delhi under the theme, “Global Nagas Call for Immediate Political Solution - Honourable and Acceptable”, “to express the deep sense of despondent prevailing among the Naga due to protracted Naga political issue.”
The rally converged at Mandi House and later marched towards Jantar Mantar.
Media team Global Naga Mass Rally in a press release rued that the negotiation which keeps “prolonging on the pretext of one reason or other the situation back at home, Nagalim has become from bad to worse.”
Staging a strong demand for justice, the rally also called for the attention of global communities to “help find a solution to the problem.”
It asserted that “unless the Union government takes the matter seriously, no one knows what is going to happen to the future of the Nagas.” “It is not in the interest of the Nagas to return to the old days of turning Naga Hill into a war zone like 1960s,” it added.
Stating that the peace talks between the Government of India (GOI) and the NSCN (IM) have witnessed 21 years of negotiations and along with the Working Committee (WC) comprising six Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs) since November 2017 has not seen tangible result except the most recent Indo-Naga Framework Agreement 2015, it iterated that the rally is also a “call to expedite the ongoing negotiations and facilitate early democratic solution which is acceptable and honourable to the Nagas based on historical facts and political legitimacy.”
The rally saw united participation of around ten thousands Naga residents, including students, employees, lawyers, religious leaders, scholars, intellectuals, organisations and other various professions in the national capital.
The event also saw representation from various Naga apex bodies, including Naga Hoho, United Naga Council (UNC), Naga Peoples Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR), Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR), Nagaland Tribes Council (NTC) and other various organizations like South Asian Forum for Human Rights (SAFHR), National Alliance of People’s Movement (NAPM) and Pakistan India Peoples' Forum for Peace & Democracy (PIPFPD) and others.
NPMHR Secretary General Neingulo Krome opined that “solution will be there only if India is willing to recognize our rights. This really has nothing to do with the ensuing election.”
The release meanwhile, mentioned that in 2003, the Government of India under former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee made a bold move by recognising the “unique history of the Nagas”. While appreciating the Government of India for the recognition, it expressed hope that the political solution will be based on its historical facts and political legitimacy.
