DIMAPUR — Two apex Ao bodies – the Ao Senden and the Watsü Mungdang – have condemned a Facebook post by a user identifying as “Naga” in the group “The Patriotic Nagas,” calling it a “despicable attempt at character assassination” targeting former Nagaland Chief Minister and veteran politician Dr. SC Jamir and Ao women in general.
In a press release on Tuesday, the Ao Senden stated that the post not only insults Dr. Jamir, “one of the architects of the State of Nagaland,” but the entire Ao community. They specifically condemned “the sweeping venomous derogatory inference to immorality of Ao women in general, based on the wild unsubstantiated observation of some individual in the last century when we were still semi-primitive”.
The Ao Senden deemed this “an intolerable insult” and vowed to identify the poster and “take this matter to a logical conclusion.” It also issued a directive to the administrators of “The Patriotic Nagas” to produce the author of the post within seven days.
In a separate statement, the Watsü Mungdang, the apex Ao women’s organisation, expressed dismay at the post’s “deliberately” promiscuous portrayal of Ao women. “This is most unfortunate and demeaning on all women, regardless of tribe or race. Whatever the political manoeuvres are, as painstakingly described by the postmasters, to unceremoniously drag in the name of Ao women into their argument and to insult the dignity of Ao women is uncalled for. In fact, it reveals the intellect and character of the so called “patriotic Nagas.”
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“Do they have any idea of the nightmares that Ao Naga women had to undergo during the turbulent times, when they were raped and murdered by the Indian army? Do they have any idea how many members of Ao Naga families were tortured and killed in front of their mothers and daughters by the Indian army because of our common goal? Would any true Naga patriot then stoop so low as to call their own mothers and sisters promiscuous?” read the statement.
Further questioning if any true Naga patriot would hide behind “brave sounding pseudonyms like ‘Patriotic Naga’ and insult other Naga tribes”, the Watsü Mungdang stated that “The fact that the ‘patriotic Nagas’ do, testifies to their own duplicity and cowardice.”
It also highlighted the post’s potential to divide the Naga people, stating that the “so-called ‘patriotic Nagas’ from south of Nagaland, as they claim, are hell-bent on further dividing the Nagas of Nagaland.”
The organisation vowed to pursue legal and traditional avenues to uncover the poster’s identity and ensure justice. “Ao Naga women have endured many horrendous trials…and we will continue to do so with self-respect and integrity, but to be accused of such turpitude by one who claims to be a Naga patriot is unforgivable’, it added.