Kaka D. Iralu
1. Nagas are not demanding Independence from India, Burma or even the UNO. Based on the fact that the declaration of independence over one’s own territory is the prerogative right of every nation on earth, Nagas declared their independence on August 14, 1947.
2. In this act of independence declaration, Nagas were not asking India or Burma’s permissions as to whether they could hoist their flag, as the lands over which they declared their independence never ever belonged to any Indian Kings or Burmese Kings in human history. In fact, prior to August 14, 1947, no Burman King or Indian King had ever even set their feet on Naga soil.
3. Their declaration of Independence on 14th August 1947 was simply a political and legal action to declare to the world that they would continue to exercise their independent status which was temporarily suppressed in 30 % of their territories by the British Colonial power from 1880 to 1947.
4. Nagas declared their independence on the basis of their continued occupation and defense of their ancestral lands which dates back as far as the B.C. era. These records are found both in secular historical records as well as Naga oral historical records. India and Burma too, declared their independence on 15th August 1947 and Jan 4, 1948 based on the same fact of their continued occupation of their ancestral lands which dates far back into the B.C. era. As such, they too did not ask China or Thailand’s permission to declare their independence as declaration of independence over one’s own territory needs no permission from any neighboring country.
5. Naga declaration of independence was never a demand for a state within the Indian Union. It was also never a demand for a shared sovereignty with India. Far from it, as far as Nagas are concerned, sovereignty of a nation has to do with the singular entity of the nation concerned. To be sovereign is to be self governing. To be sovereign is not to be duel governing. As such, the moment a nation surrenders its singular sovereignty for a dual and shared sovereignty with another nation; both the nations have nullified their own unique sovereignties. Nagas never declared their independence on August 14, 1947 for such a self nullification of their own unique sovereign history, geography and national identity.
6. All that Nagas are asking from India and Burma is that they withdraw their occupational Governments and forces from Naga territories because Naga lands or Nagas do not belong to either Burma or India. Peace and good neighborly relationships will follow only if this “withdrawal” is executed by both the Indian and Burmese Governments.
7. Nagas are only asking India, Burma and the U.N. to recognize Naga Independence which was declared on 14th August 1947. This declaration was not done in secret but communicated to the U.N. Headquarters at Salt Lake, New York on the same day.
