DIMAPUR, AUGUST 6 (MExN): The Working Committee (WC) Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs) has asked the Naga Hoho to “restructure, revamp or remain irrelevant.”
A press release issued by the WC, NNPGs said that the “insidious, prejudiced and incoherent press statements emanating in the name of Naga Hoho in recent times reveal that the very soul of Naga Hoho has been sold and surrendered completely.”
It stated that the Naga Hoho’s “ignorance of reality, bankruptcy of purpose and vision is shocking.” The WC said that without ENPO, NTC, CNTC and NGBF, the “Naga Hoho has no centre of gravity.”
The WC, NNPGs expressed concern at the manner in which the name of Naga Hoho is being “misused by a handful of disillusioned men driven by personal ambitions.” The Naga Hoho, it stated “was not meant to be a mouthpiece of one tribe, community or organisation.”
It asked the Naga Hoho to peruse through the ‘Agreed Position’ signed between the GoI and WC, NNPGs, which it claimed “is the only historical document whose contents strikingly resonates the very comforting words spoken and assured by Mahatma Gandhi to NNC leaders in 1947.” It said that the WC and the GoI “went a step further and mutually agreed on the, ‘...Political and historical rights of the Nagas to self determine their future in consonance with their distinct identity..."
Lamenting that the Naga Hoho “could not find any political significance in this historic declaration,” the WC said that the former has been “reduced to a relic with little or no hope of being revived.” “All sections of our people have been receptive of the roadmap towards solution. Neighbouring communities have been reconnected and briefed as well. The Naga Hoho may not be aware since it is inside a cocoon,” it claimed.
While citing the circumstances regarding the Naga Hoho President, HK Zhimomi’s tenure in the organization, the WC stated that “excommunicated members cannot represent even a village let alone represent Nagas.”
Meanwhile, the WC opined that Nagaland Governor, RN Ravi, who is also interlocutor, “has exhibited serious concern and commitment with practical touch.” The present Interlocutor, it claimed “redefined the dynamics, looked straight in the eye, met Naga civil societies, listened to tribes and put pen to paper.” The WC stated that the Indo-Naga conflict has “taken a pragmatic, proactive turn towards finding an acceptable and honourable political solution.”
While affirming its desire for inclusivity and transparency, the WC said that “taking people's view into consideration has been a powerful ingredient in the ongoing political dialogue.” “We have negotiated at length and agreed in principle the proposed political arrangements, entrenching distinct Naga identity in all Naga inhabited areas. After all it is a Naga narrative and not of one leader,” it added.
The WC stated that to suggest a new interlocutor at this time “is to rewind the Indo-Naga issue back to zero.”
It expressed belief that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and current Interlocutor RN Ravi, “realise that the Naga people have great hope in their future through enduring peaceful co-existence.”
The WC further claimed that Naga Tribal hohos, apex civil societies, the Church and Naga citizens at large have “come to understand the factual position of GOI and Nagas,” and that “all negotiating groups agreed in principle that dialogues had completed on October 31, 2019. There is little reason for any entity to veer off the track.”
It further stated that the WC, NNPGs “will neither comment nor tutor RN Ravi on how to play a gubernatorial role in the state of Nagaland.” “Naga people and history will judge him,” it added.
