IMPHAL, May 19: Senior NSCN-IM leader Rh Raising urged the Nagas to focus on “sovereign state, not on dependent state”. He also said that the Naga nation comes from the Naga foundation. The NSCN-IM leader added that the history of the Nagas, the political concept of the Nagas, the identity of the Nagas, the culture of the Nagas and the sovereign state of the Nagas come from the Naga foundation. “It can never come from other foundations. And that if our foundation is betrayed or murdered, we perish”, he stated.
Rh Raising is Special Emissary of the Collective Leadership, National Socialist Council of Nagalim-IM. He was speaking on the occasion of the Naga Plebiscite Day observed in Ukhrul on May 16, commemorating the 1951 event. The programme was organised by the All Naga Students’ Association, Manipur (ANSAM), and participated by the United Naga Council (UNC), the Naga Wo0men Union (NWU), the NPMHR and other Naga organisations and leaders.
In his speech, Rh Raising said, “We are looking for our future: While the Nagas were living free and independent, their free existence was interrupted by the British invasion and occupation of a part of Naga country for a period of time. Nevertheless, on the eve of the British departure from British India, the Naga people declared their independence on August 14, 1947”. The NSCN-IM leader also said, “The world is well informed of this”.
In 1950, the Constituent Assembly of India invited the Nagas to join the Union of India, which was rejected by the Naga National Council (NNC) under the leadership of A. Z.Phizo and his colleagues, the NSCN-IM leader said. “That big no saved the future of the Nagas, the history of the Nagas, the land of the Nagas, the identity of the Nagas, the culture of the Nagas and politics of the Nagas”. A plebiscite conducted on May 16, 1951 reaffirmed that decision, he added. It was informed to the United Nations and many countries through their embassies in Delhi, he further added. “History shall ever speak of it”, he said.
Contrary to the democratic method, the Government of India tried to subdue the Nagas through military might but to no avail”, Rh. Raising alleged. It rather created a horrible human rights situation in Nagalim, which drew the attention of the world, the NSCN-IM leader claimed.
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Under its ugly colonial policy, the Government of India imposed the so-called 16th point agreement in 1963 in the stolen name of Naga people’s convention, he also said. However, the Naga people had rejected the agreement.
In its incessant attempts to murder the Naga political issue, the government of India dictated the infamous Shillong Accord in 1975. Nevertheless, Raising said, it was also rejected outright and condemned by the Naga National Assembly under the leadership of Isak Chishi Swu and Th Muivah. “That historic decision saved the future of the Nagas once again. The Nagas see no future in those accords of treason. They are for a principled based solution”, he added.
Rh Raising then said the Naga nation comes from the Naga foundation. The history of the Nagas, the political concept of the Nagas, the identity of the Nagas, the culture of the Nagas and the sovereign state of the Nagas come from the Naga foundation, he stated. It can never come from other foundations. “And that if our foundation is betrayed or murdered, we perish”, he stated.
The NSCN-IM leader then said Nagas of the past generations focused on the Naga foundation/principle. “They stood firm in the matter of principle. Nagalim for Christ is our foundation and vision as well. Like our fathers, let us also focus on our foundation and stay the course in all weathers”, he also stated.
The NSCN-IM leader then said there are a section of people from some quarters who talk of problems, but they never talk of solutions. “They talk of solution, but they never talk of foundation/root of solution. They talk of peace and unity, but they never talk of foundation of peace and unity. They talk of development, but they never talk of politics, the root of development. They should know that development is the flower, politics is the root”, the NSCN-IM leader added.
Rh Raising then said, “We are poor and weak in many respects because we don’t have a recognized sovereign state as of now”. Sovereign state is the power house of developments. Riches don’t come from begging bowl, it comes from sovereign power, he stated. Development does not come from charity, it comes from the spirit of self-reliance of a sovereign people, he further said. Man through the power of a sovereign state has become master of the air, master of the ocean and master of the land, he added. “He has turned desert into river and green pasture through the power of a sovereign state. Wars, natural calamities and diseases are combatted through the instrument of a sovereign state. Hungers and thirst are eradicated through it. Rugged mountains and swarm lands are developed into beautiful cities through it. Scholars, scientists, writers, statesmen, administrators, army generals and preachers are the products of quality colleges and universities of a sovereign state. We must not wait for others or depend on others to develop our country. We are the prime factor. We are the master of our destiny. We just need a strong decision for a sovereign state”, Rh. Raising further added.
The NSCN-IM leader then said that after forty years of confrontations punctuated with negotiations, the Government of India and the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN-IM) signed the Framework Agreement on August 3, 2015. This Framework Agreement stopped fighting, killing, horrible army atrocities and violations of human rights in Nagalim, he claimed. It has turned armed confrontation into political negotiation, guerrilla warfare into mass warfare and enemies into friends, he further claimed. “It is a bridge between the two people. The Framework Agreement is in the pages of history. It will ever speak of sovereign rights of the Nagas.
Declaration of Naga independence on August 14, 1947 is made a recognized political entity by this Framework Agreement stating that ‘Nagas have the unique history of independence.’ The historic plebiscite conducted on May 16, 1951 was a political step to be recognized by the aggressor-state for legitimacy”, Rh. Raising stated. Now, the Framework Agreement has made it a recognized political entity, he stated.
According to Rh. Raising, the Naga national entity was forcibly colonized by India. “The Framework Agreement has made it a recognized entity. It has also recognized the land of the Nagas stating that ‘Nagas are the owner of their land – anything on the surface of land and beneath of it belongs to the Nagas.’ On the issue of integration, it says, ‘integration of all Naga areas is the legitimate right of the Nagas”‘, he added.
Rh. Raising then said that it has also been mutually agreed ‘coexistence of the two entities sharing sovereign power’ based on the doctrine of shared sovereignty and interdependent relationship. He said there will be mutual consultation and cooperation sharing sovereign power as defined in the competencies. This Framework Agreement will certainly protect the sovereign right of the Nagas and security interest of India. Nagas will view India as partner and vice versa. It will bring the two people closer for a greater and higher cause, he stated.
Raiding then said, “Ours is a people’s movement for national independence, where all sections of people are involved. And that NSCN is the national revolutionary front of the Naga people who confront and negotiate with the aggressor-states”. He said civil societies are another front who shouts in the street and through memorandums and mass media for the cause. He also said elected leaders speak in their respective platforms for the cause. Rh. Raising said the Church is another front, who prays for the cause. “The historic Framework Agreement is the foundation of solution. We hope and trust that Indian leaders will keep their word However, if the government of India betrays the historic Framework Agreement, the matter does not end there. The problem cannot be left unsolved. It must be solved sooner or later. National independence movement of a people from bondages to freedom is the course of history no power can stop”, the NSCN-IM leader added.
Also speaking on the occasion, ANSAM president Th. Angteshang Maring said, “Today we are commemorating the historic Naga Plebiscite Day, whereby Nagas chose to remain as a free people and Independent Nation”. Amongst others, the August 14, 1947 independence declaration, rejection of the Panglong Agreement of 1947, and the May 16, 1951 Plebiscite for Nagalim independence represents Nagas’ unique history and national principle on sovereignty, he started. “This historic day marked that Nagalim was never a part of India or Myanmar (erstwhile Burma) as the case may be, either by consent or by conquest and is one of the key foundations for Naga freedom”, the ANSAM leader also said.
Amongst others, according to the ANSAM chief, two important agreements were signed between GoI and NSCN, whereby “Nagas’ unique history” and sovereignty were officially recognized that has reinforced the significance of celebrating May 16, 1951 plebiscite Day. One of them is the Amsterdam Joint Communique of July 11, 2002 which recognizes Nagas’ unique history and situations. The other one is the Framework Agreement of August 3, 2015 signed on the foundation of sovereignty. “The Framework Agreement recognizes the sovereignty of Nagas as agreed to enter a new relationship of the two entities based on “Shared Sovereignty”, the ANSAM leader added. (NNN)
