Morung Express News
Kohima | January 10
Against the backdrop of the Naga Day celebration, a call has been made to ensure that the Naga Club be made a mass based organisation with the Naga people and its opinions as the basis of the organisation.
Making this suggestion, Dr Zavise Rume of the Naga Scholars Association, speaking at the Naga Day at Kohima, said “we must not confine ourselves into a small organisation of educated people or intellectuals alone. We must branch out, go to the people and promote the primary objective of the Naga Club.”
A think-tank for Nagas
He viewed that the Naga Club must be a ‘think-tank’ for the Nagas and engage with Naga thinkers, intellectuals, scholars, writers, teachers and professionals to gain deeper understanding of ourselves as Nagas and the Naga Club, and share the resources.
Dr Rume noted that there are too many timid Naga scholars who know too many things but are afraid to speak out, while also, young Nagas are growing very fast with very limited knowledge or no knowledge about the Naga political movement.
He stressed on the need for the Naga Club to promote healthy interactions among the Nagas to promote and firm up the spirit of Naga ‘patriotism, nationalism and fraternity’ through various forms of interactions and platforms.
To educate
Stating that there is a growing need to educate the Naga about themselves, Dr Rume suggested that Nagas must promote the first Naga political memorandum and keep it alive by gaining deeper understanding about it.
He also spoke on the need to promote the Constitution of the Naga Club and its aims and objectives to think and act for the long term welfare of the Nagas – promote unity, foster brotherhood, engender fellow feelings, uphold age old values of the forefathers, uplift human values, work culture for self reliance etc.
Promoting networking with academics
Stating that there are unending scopes of networking with both national and international academic organisations, which can serve as a gateway to tell the world about the Nagas, Dr Rume said it is time to build bridges, linkages and networking with likeminded individuals, social activists, indigenous peoples’ organisations, and academic communities across the world.
Besides, he pointed out the need for academic activities like research, publication, seminars and workshops on the Naga issue make the world aware about how Nagas practised the purest form of democracy, republic and the finest human values.
Asserting that “no freedom is won by begging, we have to struggle,” Dr Rume opined that Nagas must start writing short interesting and joyful stories into leaflets, pamphlets, booklets and distribute them to children and students both in the state and outside.
