
What is Shillong Accord that has confused the Nagas for 38 years & created enough brouhaha? Did NNC really failed the Nagas through it? Why was Phizo silent on the issue? et.etc. These are some of the searching questions that have boggled the mind of the Nagas. It is not a matter of condoning or condemning the accord but of whether it is a valid accord. For any person, who can read & reason, it is not hard to fathom what exactly it is. Any treaty or accord that is neither signed, endorsed or ratified by either side of the head of the govt. is null & void so is the Shillong accord. The very fact that Shillong Accord was signed not on behalf of NNC but non-existent ‘Underground Organization’ invalidated everything. There is a very huge difference between peace accord/ceasefire accord & political accord. Political accord can come about only through the append of head of the govt. or party. When NNC is not part of the Accord as NNC is nowhere mentioned in the accord, the question of condemning or endorsing by Phizo or NNC does not arise, yet they have condemned the same though may not be in a pitch some people wanted. What would have been a clever ploy that salvaged Naga cause from utter annihilation was demonized out of proportion by NSCNs creating undue chaos & confusion in the process. While spreading NSCNs nationalism, they destroyed Naga nationalism. As a matter of fact, NNC along bears the mandate of Naga people & until new mandate is given to any other organization, NNC alone holds legitimacy. The only thing necessary for NNC is to distance one-arm length from Transit camp so as to gratify the mental psyche of the people by which they have everything to gain & nothing much to lose taking the fact that NNC still stand tall in the minds of the people leaving no scope for its detractors. It would be foolishness if they stubbornly refuses to do anything unmindful of the damage caused. But it is also pertinent to question how it is different from the NSCNs designated camps which are protected by Indian military & its boss under VIP security to protect themselves from their own people whom dubiously they claim to represent. Which is more abhorrent is peoples’ judge. To have read the Shillong Accord & still say NNC betrayed the Naga cause would only portray how weak & poor one understands things.
Zhokusheyi Rhakho, Ph.D
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