First of all, I am not a Kilonser of the NNC as the NNC has no Kilonsers. The NNC is only the political institution of the Naga nation “to guide and control the political policy and decisions of the nation”. This power is exercised through the Central Executive Council and the Regional and Sub-Regional Councils (Naga Yehzabo Art. 143,144 Clause 1&2). As for me, I am just a Kilonser without portfolio in the Federal Government of Nagaland (FGN). The FGN in turn is the Executive Government of the Naga people headed by a President with a Council of Kilonsers who are elected by the Tatar Hoho (Parliament) of Nagaland.
As for the Shillong Accord of 1975 for which you (and the NSCN IM) are accusing that the NNC has sold out the rights of the Naga nation through the Accord, let me clarify to you that the NNC had nothing to do with the Shillong Accord. This fact must be clearly understood by every Naga citizen because none of the signatories of the accord were from the NNC set up. Not one of the signatories of the Shillong Accord was an official of either the Central Executive Council or any Regional or Sub- Regional Council of the NNC political institution.
To show this fact by quoting the names and portfolios of the signatories, they are as follows: 1. Kevi Yallie was at that time serving just as an interpreter for the FGN. He was not even a Tatar or Kilonser of the FGN though he was the younger brother of A.Z. Phizo. 2. Z. Ramyo was a Kilonser of the FGN without portfolio at this time. 3. S. Dahrü was a Tatar (Member of Parliament) of the FGN. 4. M. Assa was a Major General in the Naga Army. 5. I. Temjenba was a Secretary of the FGN. As for Veneyi, though he was also a Tatar of the FGN and a member of the delegation, he refused to sign the accord. The list of names and their portfolios thus show that all of them were officials of the FGN and not officials of the NNC.
Now when this is the case, how can you accuse the NNC of having sold out the rights of the Nagas through the Shillong Accord? Or graver still, how can A.Z. Phizo, who was at that time the President of the NNC as well as the Chairman of the NNC Central Executive Council be accused of having sold the Naga nation when neither he nor any of his colleagues (Including Th. Muivah) knew anything about the Shillong accord when it was signed under duress on November 11, 1975?
If at all someone or some organization has to be blamed for signing the Shillong Accord, should it not be “The Underground Organization” that signed it? And what was this “Underground organization?” It was but an Indian Government created organization- the name of which was proposed by Dr. Aram and accepted by Governor L.P. Singh and his Advisor Mr. Ramunny on the spur of the moment at Shillong. This name was proposed by Dr. Aram of the Nagaland Peace Centre at the Governor’s Bhavan in Shillong on November 11, 1975 itself. But besides an Organization, if at all some individuals should be blamed for framing such a so called settlement document between two nations without mentioning even the name of one party to the conflict, then it is Dr. Aram, Governor L.P. Singh and his Advisor Ramunny who should be blamed. All these facts are true and are on record. (The Shillong Accord does not mention the word Naga or Nagaland even once in the whole document).
As for the signatories, they signed the document because it neither implicated the NNC nor the FGN as they had signed the document with only their names without mentioning their designations in the FGN. As for the then President Zashei’s reply as well as Phizo’s statement on the Shillong Accord, refer to Shapwon’s book “The illegal Formation of the NSCN.” In this book, you will also find the true facts about the formation of the NSCN which are totally different from the version you have presented in your article against me.
Kaka D. Iralu
