74th Plebiscite Day Speech of Gen. (Retd.) Thinoselie M. Keyho President, Naga National Council

My dear fellow citizens of Nagaland.

I bring greetings to all of you on the occasion of the observation of the 74th Plebiscite Day today which was first conducted by the Naga National Council at Kohima on 16th May, 1951 under the leadership of the Father of the Naga Nation, A. Z. Phizo. It is a great day for the Nagas wherever we may be. It is, indeed, a very important milestone in the political history of our people. I want to pay my highest regard and appreciation to the wisdom of our elders who have created this unique history of the Nagas.

 I want our young generation to understand clearly why a plebiscite was necessary during that time. Reasons are not far to seek. History tells us that the British people ruled over this part of the globe for a long time, but they left us without making any separate arrangement for us in spite of the fact that Naga people brought to their notice much ahead of time that Nagas were not Indians and their land was not part of India. They made it very clear in their memorandum submitted to the Simon Commission in 1929 at Kohima in which they have requested the British Government to continue to safeguard our rights from all encroachments. But if they decide to go, the memorandum says that we should not be thrust to the mercy of the people who could never subjugate us but to leave us alone to determine for ourselves as in ancient time. But the British Government failed to do justice to us in spite of the fact that they themselves placed the Naga area under their rule ( the then Naga Hills) as ‘Excluded Area’ in 1935 Reform based on the memorandum submitted to the Simon Commission by the Naga Club.

When the Naga People learnt that the British Government was going away without making any arrangement for us, the Naga National Council declared the Naga Independence one day ahead of India on 14th August, 1947 and officially cabled it to UNO the same day which was acknowledged by UNO.

But when the British left, the new Indian Government, taking advantage of this confusion created by the Britishers extended their administration covering the whole areas formerly ruled by the British Crown. This was how, by circumstances, we were put under the Government of India which the Nagas refused to accept. As a result, the NNC thought it necessary to clarify it’s political stand and accordingly had taken decision to conduct a Plebiscite to prove to the Indian People and the World at large the solidarity of the Nagas and to demonstrate our aspiration in a clear and strong manner. In the Plebiscite, the NNC invited the Indian Government to send their agents to see by themselves how the Nagas would prove themselves by way of putting thumb impressions. Plebiscite photos have shown that Indian representatives were present and, therefore, Indian Government was fully aware of the outcome of the Plebiscite, the result was 99.9% voted in favour of Naga Sovereignty. The first man putting his thumb impression was from Kohima Village. His name was YIEKAHIE, meaning, “Do not give up inheritance.” Here ‘inheritance’ has deeper meaning connected with genealogy of the race. This was, perhaps, pre-arranged because the Nagas are very particular about the meaning of names and, therefore, people having good names are normally asked to start important events. “Do not give up inheritance “is the slogan that we have to uphold through our democratic rights till we see the good days. This was how the Plebiscite of 1951 was conducted by NNC to clarify it’s political stand.

Following the Plebiscite, the Nagas have also totally rejected the first Indian General Election held in 1952. In the following year, the Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru made program to visit Kohima. Naga people were of the opinion that he was coming to meet the people to discuss their problem. Therefore, Nagas, in thousands, gathered together in the Kohima Local Ground and waiting for the arrival of Nehru on that day in 1953. Thousands of Nagas were waiting for him, to see him, listen to what he would say and also to submit a memorandum to him. But the Deputy Commissioner of then Naga Hills told the Nagas that ‘they could listen to Nehru but they would not be allowed to speak or to submit any paper to Nehru. Naga leaders were angry with such provocative preposition and they said that, “If we cannot be allowed to speak or submit any document, there is no point to remain here just to listen to what P. M. Would say.” As a result, all left the meeting place before the arrival of the Prime Minister. The Nagas did not leave the meeting place on their own, but because of the provocative situation created by the D. C., the Naga people left the meeting place. Therefore, when we analyse the matter, Nagas were not wrong but D. C. was squarely responsible for this mess. But Nerhu, forgetting the blunder committed by his officer, took that incident to be an insult to him. Therefore, as soon as he reached Delhi, he sent thousands of Indian Army into Nagaland. The Nagas presumed that the order given by the D. C. must have been a directive given by either the Prime Minister’s office itself or SIB to entangle the Nagas with an excuse to finish them politically as well physically.

From 1954 onward, the Naga people had undergone a horrible period of time in which all our houses were burnt down including granaries, thousands of people were arrested and tortured, thousands were thrown behind the bars, many had been incapacitated through torture, Naga women were raped, etc. There will be no time to talk about the atrocities committed against the Nagas by the Indian Army in those days in a few minutes time. Therefore, I want to advice the young generation to read carefully the recorded history of the Naga struggle by many authors. Those days, the action of the Indian Army was real savagery in it’s crude form. To our young friends, I want to say that for those of us, who had seen those nightmares with our own eyes, touched it with our own hands and lived through it, hate to look back and want to erase it from our memory. But it lingers on. Whatever may be the case, all these events remain as history and that history has to be transmitted to our young generation. To tell about our history to our young generation is our democratic right as it exists elsewhere in the world.

I want to tell the Naga people that we are very ancient people. Our forefathers protected their sovereignty by themselves with strong hand against superior forces from outsiders. Historical records have shown that in 1832, two British Captains of East India Company, led 700 British soldiers with 800 coolies, marched through the Southern part of Nagaland for the first time in Naga territory to survey for a corridor to be opened between Manipur and Assam. From their entry into the territory of the Nagas till they reached Kachar Hills in Assam, the group was attacked all the way throughout their journey incurring heavy loss to them. The British Government then sent military expeditions to fight against the Nagas from time to time and the war continued for more than 40 years. Sir Alexander Mackenzie’s report for the year 1851 (one year only) about this was in the following words, “In 1851, no fewer than 22 Naga raids were reported, in which 35 persons were killed, 10 wounded and 113 taken captives.” He further says, “From 1854-65 there had been 19 Angami raids in which 232 British subjects had been killed, wounded and carried off and these loss have occurred when a chain of outposts was in existence from Barapathar to Assaloo.” (Barapathar to Assaloo was the line between Nagas and British during that time.) In the meantime, the Britist Government played their diplomacy wisely and signed ‘No more fight Agreement’ with the Nagas in 1880. Except that there was no agreement or treaty signed between the British and the Nagas. From all these, we can conclude that our forefathers were very proud people without fear within and without.

During this time, the present Indian Sub-continent was ruled by more than 500 distinct princely States. These Princely States were continuously at war with one another. Therefore, taking advantage of that situation, the East India Company fought against these princely States and brought many of them under their control and adopted common uniform system of Government. But not long after, there came up a sepoy mutiny/rebellion in 1857 against East India Company that a trading company should not be allowed to rule over them with political power. As a result, the Princely Sates that had been brought under the control of the company were transferred to the British Crown in the year 1858. That mutiny or rebellion of 1857 was considered by the Indian historians to be the first Indian Independence War. But by this time, Nagas were fighting with the British Government for almost 30 years. That means, Nagas were fighting to safeguard their sovereignty for many years before ‘India’ came into existence. This is history which the Indian scholars recorded in their books. And, therefore, I have said that Nagas are very ancient people.

It is said that India is emerging out as a major world power today politically, economically and in all other spheres of live. If so, we believe that they will not continue to suppress our democratic and historical rights for all time to come as they did in the past. We believe that good sense will prevail. The history that I have briefly stated above are the history of the Nagas under Naga National Council (NNC).

It is said that the Naga undergrounds have 24 factions today. For NNC we will not talk about the factions. NNC is not a faction but NNC is a Political Institution for the Nagas. We count every Naga, even those who were born yesterday, as NNC member. In whatever way we say or do, we mean it for the Nagas as a whole, we mean it for a secured future of the Nagas. Our goal is to let the Nagas live as a people in which all will be equal. We want the Nagas to live in peace with everybody around and we look forward for such an opportunity as early as possible.

I wish the Naga people all the best. Long live Naga National Council.