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Our Correspondent
Chedema, Feb. 2 (EMN): Adinno Phizo, president of Naga National Council (NNC), on Tuesday implored upon the people to remember those who had sacrificed “their whole life” and honour them by pledging not to let their “sacrifices go in vain”.
She also stated that all Nagas are NNC members and ‘every new born child becomes NNC member from birth.’
She was sepaking at the 75th anniversary of NNC formation at Chedema Peace Camp in Kohima on February 2.
Phizo apprecaited the people for their prayers, love, support, loyalty and passion “for our country has renewed our strength and hope in the building of our nation”.
Phizo maintained that in the last 75 years as a nation, people faced different challenges by “experiencing pain, untold suffering and sadness” in the hands of enemy.
“Today, there are a group thriving on lies and deceit, depriving our Naga society of our culture on independence,” she said.
“Let us not allow ourselves to be discouraged by the dissension in our national affairs under India’s occupation of our country. Let us keep our old culture of honesty by earning our bread with the pure sweat of our brows. This will earn us the respect of others and also God’s favour which can become the basis of our future,” she said.
She also called upon the young generation not to forget the sacrifices made by the forefathers.
“Know your history and embrace your heritage. Wherever you go, be an ambassador for your nation, whatever you do, do it with utmost sincerity. Respect your culture and never forget your mother tongue. Fear God and always seek His counsel. Stay away from gifts that you have not earned and always be aware of divisive plans to our society,” she said.
“I believe the dawn of great challenges and opportunities is fast approaching. Though it will not be roses all the way. It will bring countless opportunities and hardships as well. I have strong faith in you that you will rise up to the occasion to face the sea of inevitable challenges ahead of us. Our future as a nation depends on how we respond to this,” she said.
She also recalled the formation of NNC by “visionary leaders” at Wokha on February 2, 1964.
“Against all odds and confusion at the time of the withdrawal of the British imperial rule, the Naga National Council formally declared our Naga Independence on August 14, 1947 while certain territory of our land were still under the then British administration,” she said.
She maintained that declaration of India’s independence was again ratified by the NNC Plebiscite on May 16, 1951, conducted by AZ Phizo with the “result of 99.9%”.
She shared how the government of India was informed ahead to “openly witness the plebiscite and that there were Indian observers too”.
“But India again brought ballot boxes to the then Naga Hills for voting in 1952, in the first Indian general election after her Independence,” she added.
She continued that true to the National Plebiscite of 1951, the Nagas maintained a “firm national stand of total non-participation and not a single vote was cast”.
“While some of them were under the British rule, some sensed that the British would be going one day going from this part of the world,” she said, adding that with the concern for the future, 20 people who represented “all the Nagas, submitted a memorandum to the Simon Commission in 1929 that the Nagas should be left as they were before the British came”.
“Therefore, the whole Naga Hills were left as excluded area by the House of Commons by the government of India Act of 1935. The Indo-Naga problem started when government of India sent her army to Tuensang area in 1954 by ignoring the above cited historical facts of Nagaland not being part of India,” she asserted.