A people and a nation do not exist without a geographical land. But in the case of us Nagas, our geographical lands on which our ancestor and we have been living since recorded history, were horribly dissected by foreign invaders from the middle of the 19th century to the present. These geographical dissections were done by the British from 1880 to 1947 and by India and Burma from 1947 to the present. These geographical dissections however never succeeded in dissecting the Naga nation into British Nagas or Indian Nagas or Burmese Nagas. It also did not make us into Assamese Nagas or Manipuri Nagas or Arunachali Nagas.
On the contrary, under the far sighted Naga leaders like AZ Phizo, Imkomeren, Khaplang and many others, the Naga nation was reunited under the banner of the Naga National Council and the Federal Government of Nagaland. United as a nation, our grand fathers and our fathers as Semas, Aos, Angamis, Chakhesangs, Konyaks, Yimchungers, Poumais etc valiantly fought back against overwhelming odds for 17 continues years (1947-1964). They finally succeeded in bringing India to an international cease fire on Sept 6, 1964.
But tragically, by Nov 2, 1968, while the peace talks were still going on, some second generation Naga leaders started the ugly game of national dissection on tribal lines and political ideological lines. More tragic dates would eventually follow in subsequent Naga political history like January31, 1980 (The breaking up of the NNC and the formation of the NSCN); April 30, 1988 (The split within NSCN into NSCN IM and NSCN K). These major splits were accompanied by minor splits like the split within the NNC, the FGN, the NSCN IM and now the most recent one-within the NSCN K.
All these major human earth quakes have torn our Naga nation into pieces and have in its tracks left over three thousand of our own brothers and sisters slain by our own guns. And as these- our own Naga made- human earthquakes shook our lands and our families-our leaders resorted to the blame game. Some blamed the Indian Government’s Divide and Rule Policy. Others said- “No No it was the Shillong Accord”. While others went on blaming this and that as the cause of all our ills. But whatever our leaders may be blaming on, one thing is undeniably clear that this over three thousand slain brothers and sisters were not killed by Indian bullets or Burmese bullets. They were killed by the orders of our own leaders. And as one apprehensively watches the recent political developments, one sincerely hopes that our own leaders are not again leading us into more fratricidal bloodshed. Here, I feel that every genuine Naga should boldly express his or her views in order to prevent such a possible eventuality from happening again.
Now, an artificial boundary line can never dissect a nation into three or four nations. This is because that which binds a nation together is common blood, a common history, culture and language. After all, a nation is not bound together by some inanimate stone pillars erected by some foreigners. Such artificial boundary lines can never divide or dissect a nation. But on the other hand, if we, for our own selfish interests will go on dissecting ourselves on tribal and political ideological lines, then we are giving victory to our enemies. We are saying “Yes, Khaplang is a Burmese Naga”. Yes Muivah is a Manipuri Naga and Yes, Adino is an Indian Nagaland Naga”. In such a case, our mouths may be saying “Nagas are one” but our actions will be showing that we have accepted our enemy’s dissection of our geographical and national identities. To put it in other words, we have accepted our enemy’s definition of who we are or should be.
Fellow Nagas let us therefore be wary of the terrible cancer of tribal and political ideological dissections that can divide and even destroy us as a nation. Let us never follow or be bought or be led by any tribal or political leader who is thinking only of his own self interest and that of his own tribe.
Finally, as we struggle on to be recognized as a nation among the nations, let us clearly know who the enemy is. The enemy is the foreign occupiers of our ancestral lands. The enemy is not the Tankhuls or Semas or Angamis or any other Naga tribes. Let us be very clear in our heads and actions that the enemy is not ourselves.
God save our nation.
On the contrary, under the far sighted Naga leaders like AZ Phizo, Imkomeren, Khaplang and many others, the Naga nation was reunited under the banner of the Naga National Council and the Federal Government of Nagaland. United as a nation, our grand fathers and our fathers as Semas, Aos, Angamis, Chakhesangs, Konyaks, Yimchungers, Poumais etc valiantly fought back against overwhelming odds for 17 continues years (1947-1964). They finally succeeded in bringing India to an international cease fire on Sept 6, 1964.
But tragically, by Nov 2, 1968, while the peace talks were still going on, some second generation Naga leaders started the ugly game of national dissection on tribal lines and political ideological lines. More tragic dates would eventually follow in subsequent Naga political history like January31, 1980 (The breaking up of the NNC and the formation of the NSCN); April 30, 1988 (The split within NSCN into NSCN IM and NSCN K). These major splits were accompanied by minor splits like the split within the NNC, the FGN, the NSCN IM and now the most recent one-within the NSCN K.
All these major human earth quakes have torn our Naga nation into pieces and have in its tracks left over three thousand of our own brothers and sisters slain by our own guns. And as these- our own Naga made- human earthquakes shook our lands and our families-our leaders resorted to the blame game. Some blamed the Indian Government’s Divide and Rule Policy. Others said- “No No it was the Shillong Accord”. While others went on blaming this and that as the cause of all our ills. But whatever our leaders may be blaming on, one thing is undeniably clear that this over three thousand slain brothers and sisters were not killed by Indian bullets or Burmese bullets. They were killed by the orders of our own leaders. And as one apprehensively watches the recent political developments, one sincerely hopes that our own leaders are not again leading us into more fratricidal bloodshed. Here, I feel that every genuine Naga should boldly express his or her views in order to prevent such a possible eventuality from happening again.
Now, an artificial boundary line can never dissect a nation into three or four nations. This is because that which binds a nation together is common blood, a common history, culture and language. After all, a nation is not bound together by some inanimate stone pillars erected by some foreigners. Such artificial boundary lines can never divide or dissect a nation. But on the other hand, if we, for our own selfish interests will go on dissecting ourselves on tribal and political ideological lines, then we are giving victory to our enemies. We are saying “Yes, Khaplang is a Burmese Naga”. Yes Muivah is a Manipuri Naga and Yes, Adino is an Indian Nagaland Naga”. In such a case, our mouths may be saying “Nagas are one” but our actions will be showing that we have accepted our enemy’s dissection of our geographical and national identities. To put it in other words, we have accepted our enemy’s definition of who we are or should be.
Fellow Nagas let us therefore be wary of the terrible cancer of tribal and political ideological dissections that can divide and even destroy us as a nation. Let us never follow or be bought or be led by any tribal or political leader who is thinking only of his own self interest and that of his own tribe.
Finally, as we struggle on to be recognized as a nation among the nations, let us clearly know who the enemy is. The enemy is the foreign occupiers of our ancestral lands. The enemy is not the Tankhuls or Semas or Angamis or any other Naga tribes. Let us be very clear in our heads and actions that the enemy is not ourselves.
God save our nation.
