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Reconciliation has a practical role to play because it gives us a mindset by which we can accept our differences and move beyond our harmful belief that anyone who is not with us is the “other”
Wati Aier
Today’s event is not only historical, but more importantly, it is historic in the sense of having a real, abiding significance. It is healthy to be reminded of our history—and it is healthy to celebrate it.
However, there is a tendency for us to limit our perspectives to the past. The idealism of abstractly romanticizing history has been the Naga trademark all these years. Less emphasis has been placed on the practical aspect of actually practicing sovereignty.
The Naga situation is complex, and indeed one that is characterized by inertia. Multiple actors and stakeholders have not quite been able to identify the cause of this inertia—or perhaps they choose not to—and instead have merely focused on symptoms rather than address root causes. This has led to an endless cycle of short-term fixes, reactive tactics, and unresolved conflict between different groups. As Winston Churchill prophetically stated more than seven decades ago, multiple powers fighting amongst themselves “will be lost in political squabbles.”
Let us note that Naga people must change. For all those who want to bring “formal” political change, this is the crux of the matter: if Naga political groups aspire to serve a critical function in the immediate future of the Naga political fate, they must know and be able to point to the practice of Naga sovereignty in the here and now. And, more importantly, they have to come to an authentic consensus on the meaning and destiny of Naga sovereignty. And this authentic consensus must transcend cynicism and opportunism. This is a giant task. Are we up to it?
A Chance to Move Forward
For years, Naga people have lived in despair of moving forward. People are made to believe that either nothing will change, or that whatever happens is to be the accepted fate of the Naga people. For the sake of our own being, Nagas must move beyond this way of thinking and take upon a resourceful imagination for the practice of sovereignty. This realistic and resourceful imagination will help Nagas pursue our historical and political rights vis-à-vis the Government of India.
How do we pursue this imagination in order to move forward? First, we must be clear about our foundations. The genesis of Naga political history remains the only common memory of our belonging: one political history with one nation. Nagas who remain aware of this key aspect of our being must vigilantly safeguard it against the manufactured rationalization of other “bedrocks.”
Second, we must come clean about our shortcomings. Effective relations between the different Naga Political Groups (NPGs) continue to be unattainable due to unresolved accumulation of ills and mistrust among the groups. Let us understand that NPGs are functioning governments in their own rights. In this case, reconciliation has a practical role to play because it gives us a mindset by which we can accept our differences and move beyond our harmful belief that anyone who is not with us is the “other.”
As I have said before, we must understand that cooperation is nationalism begun; nationalism is cooperation at this best. Cooperation means to be dependent on one another. The primordial concept of “one-anotherness” has always been the trademark of the Naga ethos, enhanced by the diversity of our cultural colors. NPGs must talk of essential unity. They must talk—and they must remember—without being exclusive, of the Simon Commission, the Naga Declaration of Independence, and the Plebiscite of 1952 as collective milestones. Essential unity is to engage in the common history of the Nagas. The limiting political worldview of undoing the other has proven to be useless. To continue nurturing such a view will only delay the Naga people from moving ahead. Without any disrespect to the Government of India, what should be worked out from within the Naga family is the duty of the Nagas themselves. Let us give the future a chance by candidly accepting our differences within essential unity. This is the task of NPGs and the people.
Practicing Sovereignty
In context, let us acknowledge this fact: GoI has officially signed the Framework Agreement with the NSCN/GPRN and the Agreed Positions with the Naga National Political Groups. Note that the “political obligation” from the side of the Government of India is an achievement of the Nagas. Regardless, since the signing of the Framework Agreement and the Agreed Positions, a huge chasm has been created and filled with narratives by various ambitious and speculative “scholars” and “individuals” seeking to draw capital for themselves. Today, Nagas will be missing the mark if NPGs fail to muster the power of context. To put it bluntly, when the Government of India’s political obligation has been officially signed, the signatories of the Framework Agreement and Agreed Positions will have spent more time on non-essential, Machiavellians maneuvers rather than constructing a shift towards cooperation by way of political imagination.
The NPGs are presented with a creative tension that clearly articulates what the Naga people want and what the Naga people can do despite our differences. Every leader must determine to move towards the mindset of imagining the Naga possibility. This is nothing but an orientation of one’s mind, spirit, heart, and strength to transcend the muddled ground.
In perspective, NPGs must also realistically understand the Government of India’s “understood” difficulties vis-à-vis Naga identity with its political markers. Let us keep on practicing what is ours. What is ours is understood. We must stop nullifying ourselves by asking the Government of India to annul this or that precisely because Nagas are asking for a right that the Government of India does not have. How can one offer what one does not possess? It can be stated this way: if Nagas are given what is already ours, then we invalidate ourselves.
The Framework Agreement and Agreed Positions are indeed significant achievements. Now, what can be implemented must be put in order and what cannot be implemented must be pursued bilaterally. In all, we must continue to respect each other, as well as respect ourselves. We must move from self-centeredness to self-awareness and from attacking the “other” towards mutual respect. This movement forms the vital aspect of cooperation.
Our political model cannot be limited to a particular way of thinking. The paradox of the Naga factual concept must be immediately put into form. To be sure, forms will keep changing.
Nagas must appropriate the realism of the here-and-now in the light of the not-yet. What can be worked out politically in a “block” and “blocks” should go ahead, and be considered with special political attention. The creative tension is to enact in the form of an overarching Naga political model, perhaps similar to the Sami Parliament.
To note, those who do not wish to be part of the envisaged political model cannot be coerced into it. The imagined parliament (or Hoho) is to live into the present with an emphasis on the power of constructive transformation. It is to unleash the freedom of women and men to participate in inventing the Naga sovereign world through engagement and sacrifice. The Nagas, as do other people, present varying perspectives on imagining our socio-cultural administration. One can think of many a Naga political model that draws from the past with pride, yet looks to the future, empowering our young generation in Asia and the rest of the world. One can imagine ways to prioritize the building of institutions and the sharing of our culture to the world, without terminating the present political dialogue with the Government of India. The sacredness of Naga hope lies in our ability to imagine that a future is possible in the present. This hope will point the Nagas to a concrete future, not of abstract concepts and rhetoric, but of practical, proactive nation building.
KUKNALIM!
(This Speech does not represent any particular organization. It was made on August 14 during the Global Naga Forum: 76 Naga Independence Day, 14 August, 2022,)
