Khekiye k. Sema
It is a matter of appreciation that the silent majority of concerned and responsible citizens among the Nagas are beginning to make an effort to ventilate their points of view that would invariably impact our future in one form or the other. As is the way of the world, such views being expressed may find acceptability among some or rejection among others, but it does provide a healthy platform to debate and crystallize our understanding to a given subject. Towards this end in mind, I venture to interact on a few issues that have of late been featured in the daily papers and add a little more of my own. I do believe it concerns us all.
The subject of focus for all of us is obviously on the issue of the Naga National Movement and the ongoing political dialogue between NSCN (IM) and the GOI; There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that the BEST possible course of action towards finding a lasting peace is to have the mandate of all the factions and all Nagas at large, while making the effort to reach that ultimate goal. The legitimacy and acceptability of NSCN (IM) is therefore being questioned vis-à-vis the final settlement to this vexed problem. Mr.Thepfulhouvi Solo’s implied view that no solution would truly be legitimate without the involvement of the NNC, being the sole legitimate forum to address the matter of a final solution on grounds of having initiated the plebiscite of 1951. This view will perhaps find favour amongst many when seen at its’ face value. However, I am inclined to believe that the plebiscite was an endorsement towards the rights and freedom of the Nagas for self determination, but certainly not a specific empowerment of NNC as the sole custodian to act upon the issue. Even if the assumption of Mr.T.Solo was upheld, how will NNC explain the signing of the Shillong Accord of 1975 with the GOI? Does this act not completely and irrevocably obliterate the legitimate foundry of the NNC by its’ determined inability to denounce this Accord in the public domain? As a Naga I give my unreserved respect to Late Mr. Phizo and applaud him for this landmark initiative. BUT his maintenance of a loud silence on the issue was as good as an endorsement for the Accord in eyes of the world. This inaction on his part now stands imprinted in the sands of time which cannot be wished away. Mr. Manhei, a concerned citizen, shared his view that NSCN should not have been formed without ‘fixing the blunder committed by former’ would also be absolutely relevant if no effort was made by Mr. Isac Swu and Mr. Muivah to right this wrong. History will recall that they did try in all earnestness to persuade Late Mr. Phizo, their NNC President, to publicly and officially denounce this detrimental Accord… but failed. It was of no consequence if Mr. Phizo loudly condemned this accord in his own kitchen. He represented a Nation and the need of the hour was to be heard in the public domain for the world to clearly register the vehemence of this Accord being condemned by that very Nation without being concerned as to whether his own brother was a party to this Accord or not. Arguably, the NSCN came to being as an alternative organization on being faced with an impossible and illogical predicament of having to conduct a negotiation with the enemy after the NNC waved the white banner.
Even as late a stage as the present, instead of rebuilding the fractured structure of the NNC, it has further disintegrated into NNC Adinuo(Accordist) and NNC (Non Accordist),and still claim a center stage in the matter of the final solution. I have no hesitation in acknowledging the fact that the unfragmented NNC, under the leadership of Late Mr.Phizo, was the original organization that fermented the seed of freedom in the minds of the Nagas. The ground reality however causes much confusion as to which NNC we the Nagas are expected to follow. To an average Naga, it would seem a futile exercise to put our faith in the hands of those who still uphold the Accord. The confusion further enhances when we get a distinct picture of the NNC (Accordist) becoming more a personal Phizo family fiefdom with Madam Adinuo becoming its President by virtue of being his daughter. If NNC was an honourable Naga Movement, we would have been inclined to believe that those senior members of the NNC who had stood shoulder to shoulder with Late Mr. Phizo, and made equal sacrifices from the beginning of the movement, should have first been honoured in the true spirit of Naga fairness. They certainly were way senior to Madam Adinuo. This did not happen. Having said that, I should think that even now, there would absolutely be no reason to question Madam Adinuo’s Presidency of the NNC, if so elected by its unfragmented legitimate members of the Parliament or the recognized forum vested with such a responsibility and not be where she is just by virtue of being Phizo’s daughter. The complex situation gets further compounded when the Shillong Accord of 1975 issue is placed on the table. As an Accordist, would it not be a clear status for NNC to perceive that the game has been played out? Then why pretentiously continue the game after the final whistle has been blown? In such a state of confusion it would perhaps generally be perceived that the NNC (Non Accordist) is treading on a more honourable path. Be that as it may, the fact remains that to reclaim its past glory, NNC needs to put its house in order in its unfragmented form and only then confidently reclaim the respect of the Nagas and make its presence felt at the center stage.
Beyond the NNC, the unfortunate circumstance of the emergence of so many other factions is a cause for serious but helpless concern. The citizens of Nagaland fail to comprehend why all the factions have the same end objective of sovereignty for the nagas but are unwilling to achieve this identical goal, unitedly. Is it an ego problem among the leaders of the different factions which supersede the National cause or a hidden agenda of self perpetuation of one outdoing the other in various fronts, including material wealth and still hope to go down in history as the Father of the Nation? If the clash of the titans was being waged in isolation, the Nagas in general would have perhaps shrugged it off as an unfortunate event. Since this is not the case however, the burden of factional taxation for the National cause continues to be a back breaking nightmare being suffered by all sections of the Nagas for more than the past three decades. The unbearable groan from this burden is being silenced by the gun but for how long can this go on? It would be well for all to remember the message of Karl Marx to the downtrodden Russian masses… ‘Arise! You have nothing to lose but your chains’. The times of the past where our elders made their supreme sacrifices for this just cause is no more. With corruption and unemployment situation worsening in the State, the present generation is joining one cadre or the other for self aggrandizement rather than for the cause that our elder generation gave their lives for. While it would grossly be unfair to tag all the National workers as self seekers, indeed there are many who honestly and selflessly serve the cause, it does not take a scientist to decipher the picture of reality that many a known penniless individuals joining the cadre have become wealthy persons overnight with all the trappings of that ill gotten wealth on flagrant display. It does seem to appear that joining the National cause has become a lucrative pastime. God forbid! The uncontrolled prevalence of the gun culture in our midst has the potential of perpetuating a far worse scenario of ‘Mafia Dons’ emerging under the guise of National Movement and continue to thrive way after the National issue is put to rest. The time is rife for all the factions to review its respective cadres and ascertain the level of National Commitment and uproot the rot which has already set in, before it leads us to a visionless self destruction.
Now let us dream on further for a moment that one day the dark clouds would dissipate and the Nagas achieve an honourable settlement. I have no doubts in my mind that Mr. Kaka D. Iralu means well in raising a question about “Interim Govt. without a National consensus”. However, it would be rather difficult to define ‘national consensus’. What with this many ferociously independent factions floating around compounded by the hoards of rudderless NGOs without a true cause and the masses that only flow with the tide sans opinion, what kind of National consensus are we referring to? Suffice is to say if it has happened in Mizoram it can very well happen in Nagaland. I am more inclined to question ‘what kind of an interim Govt. can the Nagas expect’? Would it be multi-party Democratic Govt. as we know of today or a China type of a Socialist Govt.? Throughout all these turbulent years I have yet to hear any one intellectual Naga seriously debate this issue or question the possibility of a Naga Government being instituted based on the Red Book philosophy of Chairman Mao Tsutung, considering the fact that NSCN is its’ by-product. It would be a disastrous venture to embark on a ship that has already been abandoned by its’ owner due to serious leakage problems. Purely as a speculative assumption, if the NSCN were to obtain the liberty to structure any form of an Interim Govt. or a regular one, would they introduce “One Party” system with a “Collective Leadership hierarchy” as is their present norm? If the answer is yes, it spawns a further worrisome question: “Have the Nagas sacrificed so much for so long to gain our sovereignty only to lose our individual freedom”? This is just playing a devil’s advocate to provoke a candid debate to define our future destiny.
Amidst a seemingly bleak and hopeless horizon the recent laudable efforts of FNR does appear like a silver lining, giving the Nagas a flicker of hope. With the signing of Naga Concordant on 26th August 2011 and the serious efforts aftermath being put in to work towards the formation of ‘One Naga National Government’ we can fervently wish that the journey of common hope can be completed in a positive note. Doubtlessly this affords an ideal providential platform for all the factions to come together and amicably hammer out their differences within the kitchen rather than the bloodbath in the open street. Perhaps when the trust level between the factions is congenially cultivated, the ongoing dialogue between the NSCN (IM) and the GOI can then be put on the table for all the groups to transparently review the same with a clear headed practicality and arrive at a consensus. If this were to materialize then yes, we would happily be halfway house to Mr. Kaka Iralu’s “national consensus” issue. Wishful thinking as it may seem, such a scenario would be a sincere hope that all Nagas would pray for and wish the members of the FNR all the very best of success. May the Almighty give them the courage, the wisdom and the patience to see this through.
(KHEKIYE K. SEMA) IAS Rtd
Forest Colony, Kohima
