Keeping in mind the urgent need to have unity among the Naga people Chairman S S Khaplang should consider the appeals of the Naga organizations to resume the ceasefire with the government of India. As the Eastern Nagaland Peoples’ Organisation (ENPO) and the Naga Hoho have rightly said, the renewal of ceasefire between the government of India and NSCN-K is very important because it is an ‘essential and a pre-requisite tool for unity and reconciliation amongst the different Naga political groups.’ This is so, because for the Nagas to iron out the feathers ruffled by our abhorrent activities should be our priority. When we say ‘to iron out’ we are actually saying that our Naga national credentials are re-affirmed (and not getting diluted). One thing we should also know is that to address an issue as important as ours (the Naga national issue), unless we have a collective voice the adversaries are always on the prowl to have an easy harvest. It also does not give a convincing message when a section of the Nagas is fighting with whom another section of the people has made a peace deal. It only exposes our society in want of a unifying self-image and centralized and acceptable leadership carrying out the movement. It is also to be cautioned that the young Nagas are keenly observing the development. Testing the patience of the youth will be catastrophic in the era where opinions are shaped by the social media. Given these conditions, we should not lose heart in dissuading Chairman Khaplang and the government of India to reconsider the abrogation of ceasefire agreement though it may not offer immediate results. Having assuaged the people’s concerns in critical situation for all these years we don’t see reasons the NSCN-K leaders will be too stiff-necked. We should also understand that decades of engaging in guerrilla warfare and now 14 years of peace, S S Khaplang and his NSCN-K have come a long way fighting for a benign cause. We know all engagements must come to an end but not at this critical juncture. To get so near and yet be so far away is a fate that has befallen many a world revolutionary leaders. History is the witness to it. S S Khaplang may have assumed about his fate in this line. If he does so he has reasons to drive home his point. For 14 years making him to sit in a bench seeing the other players in the field in action must be perhaps a punishing job. This frustration of S S Khaplang’s team was well reflected in the press communiqué the outfit issued four months ago. The NSCN-K said, “The unjust peace is no peace at all and 14 years of Ceasefire between NSCN/GPRN and India has become a mockery and futile exercise. The shallow commitment and politics of deceit have become a hallmark tradition of India to engage in peace and political discourses… the Nagas’ sovereign legacy cannot be negotiated or relegated to mere ceasefire proceedings”. These lines of the NSCN-K should not be taken lightly if we are really working to ensure a sustainable engagement.
