The Agencies’ news on 28th May 2009 that the Centre would target Northeast militants as its top priority is something to view it seriously by NE militants including the Naga nationalists of all factions. The new Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram’s assertion that the Central Govt. would respond to any threat to security, public order and communal harmony with speed and decisiveness made no secret of its determination to root out militancy in the NE India. Will the Naga nationalists be brought under the category of maintaining “public order” giving the harassments meted out to civilians by unbridled national workers and their imposters?
It is possible that the “fed up” and “enough is enough” public psyche may force the cease-fire agreements to collapse and pave the way for bringing the State under the category of maintaining public order. The spell of cease-fire had tested peoples’ patience beyond stretch forcing the civil populace to recline towards mainstream. It is obvious that the Naga political problem that was recognized as political in nature by the GOI once again stands the chance of being treated as internal security problem of India for the mess and meddles of our own creation. It would in all probability be encircled within the purview of maintaining “public order” sooner than we expected.
That the glory of Naga freedom movement is fast losing its sheen can’t be denied with none to be blamed than the players themselves. Nagas need a rethink on our approach to free ourselves. There’s an urgent need for re-evaluation on our political thought. In the changed global political scenario the Nagas can ill-afford to take India as the age-old arch-rival and expect to achieve our goal. We can’t help but to treat India as our most honored neighbor. The fact that we enjoy everything that is Indian puts us in that situation. We have been enslaved by greed for easy Indian money. Our parasitic living on India is an embarrassment to our political stand and to those nations that support our cause. Our credibility as a force that was reckoned with has diminished. The level of respect that we commanded had scaled down. The Nagas can’t achieve anything on retrograde political thought and theory of confrontation. It is only through reciprocal love and mutual trust with India that the Nagas will achieve what we believe is legitimately ours’.
The success of the military offensive and ultimate elimination of LTTE by Sri Lankan Govt. might have boosted the morale of the Indian Govt. The downfall of LTTE was attributed to the terrorist tag that it carried and the cold shoulder shown by the GOI this time because of the assassination of its former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Despite reports of human rights violations by both the parties, the merit of eliminating the menace of LTTE once and for all far convinced the international community. The determination of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa finally prevailed. LTTE is no more.
We can read the mind of the present Indian leadership. It would be tragic to give the GOI an alibi to act on that line. Will the Government of India go the Sri Lankan Government way to tackle insurgency problem in the northeast? Will the Naga nationalists face the LTTE’s fate?
Dr. K. Hoshi
Phek Town
