Kaka D. Iralu
Is that desire one of political power with which they can dominate their neighbours and even add their lands to their own lands? Is it one of selfishness where they wanted others to provide all their economic needs so that they could enjoy themselves? Was it one of being completely allied with China so they could go on harassing and opposing India? Is it one of killing another Indian for all the Nagas killed in the Indo-Naga war?
Any such desire on the part of the Nagas would simply be some mad lunatic’s imaginations and not facts. Never were these factors parts of the Naga’s deepest political longings. And if these were not the political desires of the Nagas, why then did India resort to all the repressive military measures to oppose and oppress the |Nagas?
That still leaves us with the question, what then is the deepest political desire of the Nagas which India has completely misunderstood? To answer that question, the reader will have to be taken back into Naga history to see how Nagas have lived in the past and had simply wanted to go on living that way.
1. As far as we know, though never economically in want, Nagas have never been an affluent society either. We did not have currencies gold, silver or diamonds in our thatch houses (though it has always been there under our feet). However, on the surface, we had the greatest riches which is an abundance of land with a very fertile soil and an ideal climate with a super abundance of flora and fauna.
2. Embracing and controlling all this natural wealth was a polity of just customary laws, land ownership system and a purest form of democracy where equality cut across family, clan and village lives. It was indeed a society of Community living, community sharing and community grieving when even a single member of the village died. With all these cultural assets as a way of life, we celebrated our festivals and pursued our dreams in total abandonment free from jealousy or ill will towards any of our neighbours.
These truths are not a hyperbolic exaggeration of facts to impress or fool an outsider. But I too have lived in a village, where I have experienced all these ways of life.
This socio, political and cultural way of life was so different from the British or Indian way of life. They are in fact, poles apart. As for Naga expressions of their deepest political wishes, whether it was the memorandum submission to the Simon Commission of 1929 or the many other submissions to the Indian Government, the Naga plea was simply one of LEAVE US ALONE SO THAT WE CAN LIVE OUR LIVES IN OUR OWN WAYS. But the Naga’s deepest political desire was grossly misunderstood by India and as a result, a bloody 72 year war has been fought causing so many thousands of deaths and sufferings to both sides.
If we however still want a solution to the conflict, then strip the conflict bare of all its prejudiced suspicions and address the real issue which is: JUST PACK UP ALL YOUR GOVERNMENT’S PARAPHERNALIA IN OUR LANDS AND GO BACK TO INDIA AND LET US LIVE OUR LIVES IN OUR OWN WAYS.
