Speech delivered by Niketu Iralu on the occasion of Naga Club Celebration of 100th Year at RCEMPA Auditorium, Jotsoma on October 30, 2018
Today the Naga Club has rightly started celebration of the Club’s formation one hundred years ago. And, most appropriately, tomorrow the younger generation of the Naga people, led by the Naga Students Federation will celebrate the legacy that has come down from that historic beginning.
The beginning of the Naga Club was the seed; the legacy is the seedling whose growth has produced the struggle of the Nagas for their aspirations and the society we have today. We rejoice that all Nagas are commemorating with gratitude what we have achieved together so far.
The Naga Club and the Legacy of the Club that the NSF considers to be its responsibility to defend describe much of our modern history. We will come to see that together the two institutions representing the old and new generations are doing the right thing, at the right time, the right way for our people. The differences that have been expressed during the past weeks are understandable, given the tense time in which we are all responding to changing situations. Our shared concern for the greater good of our people will enable us to reach out to one another and restore the damaged relationships.
We are a loosely related group of peoples becoming a nation with determination. We have come and settled down in a very beautiful, resource-rich land in the deep interior of the Asian Continent, surrounded by some of the most ancient societies, nations and civilizations. It is important we realise we are only at the very beginning of our journey along with others in the world much older than us.
Let us not forget that we have a legacy that can destroy us if we thoughtlessly pollute and damage its health by our selfishness and use of violence and other unsustainable methods to solve our problems. Our common duty is to nurture the health of the Naga tree, not fight over its fruits which will lead to its destruction. This 100th year is the moment when each one of us can decide to be fully responsible for the healthy growth of our people.
We have come this far. What our future will turn out to be will be decided by the quality of the thinking, living and character today’s Nagas will demonstrate.
