General (Retd) Thenoselie
Ex-Naga army chief reaches out to comrades
General (Retd) Thenoselie, a former comrade in arms of senior leaders such as SS Khaplang, Isak Chishi Swu, General Khole and Th Muivah has appealed perhaps for the last time to his fellow comrades “to reason together” and unite. “We can go to Delhi in one voice. We can achieve our goal once we are united”, an upbeat Thenoselie says with confidence in his voice and perhaps unknowingly evoking the same spirit of ‘Yes we can’, which helped propel Barack Obama as the first ever African-American to the White House. In a rare one to one interview with Chief of Bureau, Along Longkumer, at his modest home at Chota Basti, Kohima, the former Commander-in-Chief of the Naga Army—who has worked together with the leaders of the various warring groups under the then undivided NNC—offered that he was ready to sit down with them at a place and time which can be mutually worked out. Thenoselie says that he is ready to “reason together”, reconcile and “declare that we are united”.
“We cannot come together from a far distance. We have to understand each other. We must talk freely and frankly. Only then unity will come”, Thenoselie says with the hardened face of this former military General showing signs of emotion as he continues to reminiscent on his personal meetings with the likes of Khaplang and Muivah. “I have met all of them but separately so why not meet together”, says Thenoselie, remaining open to the idea of the Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR) arranging such a meeting. The former Naga army General admits that there have been overtures in the past from both Khaplang and Muivah, asking him to join them. “I could have joined either groups but my joining any faction will not solve the Naga problem”, Thenoselie says rather he adds that “it will only aggravate things” and that if he joins a faction he will have to “defend their position” which in essence further fuels “divisions”.
Knowing the perils of factional politics, Thenoselie has consciously kept himself away from any group, although he clarifies that he is still a member of the NNC.
The General it may be mentioned was part of the group which made the first political and military expedition to China in 1966. The team to China numbering about 130 had been led by Gen Thenosolie with the young Muivah as spokesman. The NSCN Chairman Isak Chishi Swu and Gen Thenoselie were also together as part of the FGN led peace talks held at Chedema and Khensa during 1964. Isak Swu was then the Naga Foreign Secretary. Reiterating that “unity is the only solution”, Thenoselie points out that unity should come first and foremost before arriving at any kind of a solution with Delhi. He goes on to argue that the Government of India and its establishment is “afraid of Nagas coming together”. But he foresees that unless Delhi has an “evil intention”, it will think twice before signing any kind of a political agreement with the NSCN (IM). Arguing from his past experience of the ceasefire in 1964 and thereafter talks with the Government of India, General Thenoselie points out that the present ceasefire and peace process has now become “only an eye-wash” and that both parties do not want to terminate it for fear of violence returning. But Thenoselie cautions that Delhi is dragging the process with the motive to strangulate the NSCN (IM) through the peace process. Expressing concern, he goes on to suggest that a third party mediator such as the FNR can save the situation.
On a probable formal truce among the various Naga groups, Thenoselie is clear that unless there is ceasefire among the Nagas what would be the use of having a reconciliation process. While acknowledging the role of the GBs and DBs in working out a truce late last year, Thenoselie says that “proper ground work should have pre-ceded” such an arrangement. When queried whether as a former military General he can play a role in working out ground rules and other monitoring mechanism to put in place a mutually agreed ceasefire among the Naga groups, Thenoselie is open to giving advice and guidance to the FNR in this regard but feels that due to age, he cannot take up a formal role. This former Commander-in-chief of the Naga Army pleads for an end to violence and killings. His one last wish is to see peace and unity during his lifetime. “If one is a true leader of the Naga people and a patriot, then they should unite and not divide. They should listen to the voice of our people for an end to killings and peace in our land”, Thenoselie makes a sincere final appeal to leaders in the various political groups.
This is my last hope
If the efforts of the Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR) fail this time round there will be no more hope left for the Nagas. “This is my last hope!” says former Naga Army Chief General (Retd) Thenoselie while acknowledging the efforts of mediating groups such as the one under the umbrella of the FNR. Thenoselie reiterates the position taken by the FNR that the various “factions” should come together based on the historical and political rights of the Nagas. In this regard, Thenoselie gave his personal opinion that the Naga political movement started with the NNC and therefore “If we have to go by the historical and political rights of the Nagas then we cannot ignore the NNC as the starting point”. The retired General is however clear in his mind that a political body should be agreed upon which will represent the Nagas as a whole. Thenoselie goes on to add that once this first step is taken, then a President can be elected after which a national government can be formed under a suitable and agreed upon name whether it be GPRN or FGN etc. He cautions that Nagas cannot afford to continue with parallel governments and that either we can come together or else civil strife will destroy any future hope for the Nagas.
Mutual suspicion must end
Giving a firsthand account of historical experiences in the long drawn struggle for Naga independence and the division among the Nagas, Thenoselie disclosed that the Shillong Accord of 1975, which “led to the birth of factions”, as well as the NSCN split in 1988, which further fomented division, were all as a result of mutual suspicion, hearsay and misinterpretation of facts and events as also the “evil design” of both internal and external agencies out to kill the Naga political movement. In a startling disclosure, Thenoselie said that the leadership at that time failed to “thoroughly” discuss the Shillong Accord and rather focused only on its interpretation. While admitting that no one could be wholly right, the former Commander-in-Chief remains perplexed as to how Delhi could have directed the signatories to endorse the Shilling Accord in the name of “underground organization”.
Likewise, the 1988 split in the NSCN was caused by mutual suspicion, according to Thenoselie and suspects the hand of the Indian intelligence to foment trouble between the top rung leadership of the undivided NSCN.
