Neingulo Krome,
Member, Forum for Naga Reconciliation
In the words of Forum for Naga Reconciliation; “Nagas are no more in the crossroad”. So having gone beyond the crossroad where are we now? The answer is as simple and as accurate as the theme of your Conference suggests – Nurturing Sustainable Relations.
Nagas have struggled and fought with the Government of India for over half a century for its political independence having asserted for itself “a nation of our own” even as early as 1929 when India too was under the colonial rule of the then British empire. Nagas were then loyal subjects of the colonial rulers presuming that “Nagas would be left to themselves” when Britishers leaves the Indian sub-continent, and even helped them win the second World War against the Japanese forces. However, towards the eve of India’s Independence, Britishers made their departure from our land without making any kind of recognition to acknowledge the rights of the Nagas, which was in all fairness expected from them, and instead left Nagaland and the Nagas badly divided between the Nation States of India and Burma (Myanmar) and even within state territories.
This left the Nagas with no choice but to assert their own rights to self-determination by declaring their own Independence on the 14th of August 1947, one day ahead of India’s Independence. This historic political statement was re-enforced and mandated with 99.9% of the Naga people voting for an Independent Nagaland through a Plebiscite that was conducted on the 16th of May 1951. And for which, Nagas completely boycotted the first Indian Elections which was held in 1952 to say that Nagaland was not a part of the Indian Union and that it will not be even in the foreseeable future. This led to the invasion of Nagaland by Indian military forces in 1953 which compelled the Nagas to take up arms to defend themselves and to protect their land and people. Since then, Nagaland was soaked in blood with tears in every home. This scenario resulted in complete break-down of human relations between the Nagas and the Government of India which further escalated over the years and which have now percolated to breaking down of fraternal relations between the Naga people themselves in the recent years to which we are all witnesses and victims as well.
Therefore, today’s theme for discussion comes as most timely and relevant even in terms of facilitating an understanding of our historical and political rights as very briefly summarized and for which we also must thank our leaders and elders and dutifully honour them. We also must thank our leaders of the political movement for jealously guarding our rights till date and keeping control over it which is and will be the foundation of our future. But how we translate these rights into action will depend on the collective wisdom of all our leaders and how we as the people for whom these rights were fought can support through consensual understanding. Nagas are now talking about reconciliation and peace much more earnestly like they never did before. Some are skeptical, some are critical and some are even scared ….but the vast majority is hopeful and looking forward towards the whole process. Besides, some of the over-bearing barriers have also been crossed in the recent months. The message is clear….the leaders are now more or less ready to “talk it out” and their people even more in earnest.
When Nagas fought together heroically against a common enemy, even in death and in pain it brought out the best in everyone. It was then an honour to sacrifice for a cause everyone believed in. But when we started fighting amongst ourselves, it brought out the worst in everyone and honour turned into shame and sacrifices became wastages. The cause also became the victim. In the midst of prevailing confusions many people warned of a possible out-break of “civil war” if Nagas do not unite. What we have seen with our own eyes and heard with our own ears over even the things that has been taking place just in Dimapur area alone in the recent days, they are nothing less or short of civil wars. The war of words in itself could not have been more violent. The anger and hatred that were hurled at each other could not have been more devastating. Yes, Nagas have taken out the worst in us against one another. But as a song goes to say; “it’s always darkest before the dawn”, I think we can see rays of the dawning of new days. And it is in the context of this development we are now talking about “nurturing sustainable relations”.
The theme also sounds in a manner which somehow says that there have been relations in one form or the other. But perhaps they were not very sustainable and keep breaking down more often than one wished for. And in the back-drop of a political conflict with other nations, Nagas too have been deeply involved in internal conflict as a consequence of war and its side-effects. So on one hand we are talking of nurturing relations amongst Nagas that will be sustainable. While on the other hand we are also thinking of nurturing a new relation with India that may be meaningful and sustainable.
As for the Nagas, we have started talking to each other even with the differences that may still exist at different levels and at varying degrees. And this has reduced the violence so much that the guns have now more or less fallen silent. The anger have subsided to a great extend and people are beginning to reason things out. When I heard leaders say to each other after many years of not even speaking to each other, things like….”we have destroyed (meaning made them fight) our people under our leadership, and so we have the responsibility to straighten things out during our times”….one cannot help but feel sorry and also admire their courage for being able to say so. Statements such as…“Our enemies have taken too much advantage of our differences, so we must stop this…. I on my part have forgiven all those who have done wrong in the past”…. still reverberate in my ears and touches my heart. Nevertheless, we also need to understand that for proper healing and reconciliation to take place, we must go beyond forgiving but also ask for forgiveness, which again reminds me of a courageous leader saying; “all of us has done wrong and committed mistakes, so let us not blame each other but reconcile with one another in the name of God” and goes on to recite Romans 3: 23, “For all have sinned and come short to the Glory of God”.
This initiatives and developments are not history, they are on-going things and meant for us, the people and more so for the present Naga generation to build on when we are talking of nurturing a sustainable relationship amongst our people and ourselves.
In our struggle for Political Independence, Nagas saw India as the most evil element on earth while India also saw Nagas as the most rebellious creatures on earth, with both sides wishing and wanting to wipe each other out from the face of the earth. For almost 50 years, war raged on barring a few years of Ceasefire and political negotiations in the latter half of the 1960s, which broke down only to re-engage in a more vigorous military options and psychological war-fares. Today we are again witnessing another round of Ceasefire and political negotiation which is almost completing its 12th year. But the difference between then and now is this…this time it is not only the Government(s) that are talking. But people from various walks of life both within the Indian communities and the Naga people themselves are also engaged in various forms of conversation to find some kind of solution that can be sustainable for a new kind of relationship which will seek to address the needs and fears of all concerned.
Towards these efforts, Nagas have walked extra miles to reach out to the people of India as well as to the different international communities. The Journey of Conscience, Nagas Call for Peace, People-to-People dialogues, the quite diplomacies, the common journey of hope etc…etc… are some of the few initiatives which Nagas have taken while also responding to Indian civil society initiatives side by side. Not only these, but conversation are also being held with our neighbours too about the kind of relations that we can envision together while collectively searching for common answers to the many immediate problems confronting us.
What will be the shape of things in the making of a political settlement with the Government of India is best left to the collective wisdom of leaders of the political movement. But at the end of the day, we certainly may also not be seen as mere spectators, but may have to participate in more than one way where our roles and responsibilities may be defined according to the need and challenges of what may emerge from the confines of the negotiations. All these thinking processes, all the reconciliation works, the political struggle and peace negotiations, the conversations that we are having even now are all part and parcel of people’s collective nurturing of a relation that will be sustainable. And I thank the leaders of the Dimapur Naga students’ Union, organizers and committee members for very ably introducing this thought through the theme that you have chosen for bringing Nagas together in our search for durable peace which can happen only when human relations are established with respect, dignity and honour.
“One day, the people of the world will want peace so much that the governments are going to have to get out of their way and let them have it.”-Dwight ‘D. Eisenhower
A brief paper presentation on “Nurturing Sustainable Relations”, in the 17th General Conference of the Dimapur Naga Students’ Union (DNSU) on the 2nd of June 2009, at Town Hall, Dimapur.
