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DIMAPUR — The Naga Club commemorated the ‘Naga Magna Carta Day’ at Longkhum village in Mokokchung district on Wednesday. The day marks the submission of a memorandum to the Simon Commission by the Naga Club in 1929.
Reflecting on history during the programme, President of the Naga Club, Kuolachalie Seyie, said that the memorandum, which was submitted to the British Statutory Commission headed by John Simon on January 10 1929, declared the Naga people’s right to self-determination.
The lines, ‘Leave us alone to determine for ourselves as in ancient times,’ became the first written ‘magna carta’ (great charter) of the Naga national politics and laid down the rock-solid foundation of the Naga people’s rights that gave the legitimacy and the mandate to self-determination, he asserted.
January 10 has since become a ‘red-letter day,’ prompting a reflection on the contributions of patriotic Naga national pioneers and legendary leaders like Imkongmeren Ao, Vice President of Naga National Council (NNC), he said in his presidential address, a copy of which has been made available to this newspaper.
Seyie said that the “Naga Club will play its rightful role for our Naga society” if the occasion is observed every year for ‘its factual review of the past, truthful and bold assessment of the present, with the conclusion and lessons thus understood together’ and contributes its vision for the Naga people with humble and authoritative confidence.
He began this year’s ‘review’ by paying homage to Imkongmeren Ao by sharing his life story and recognising his exemplary role in establishing a roadmap for the Naga people in changing times.
“He (Ao) fulfilled his responsibilities with knowledge of the facts of the unchallengeable history of the independent Nagas. We have come to Longkhum today to pay homage to our towering leader, beloved and respected by all Nagas for his clarity and vision on the Naga political position and his unflinching love for the Naga country. We celebrate his life and remember with deep affection all that he gave so sacrificially for the posterity of the younger generations,” Seyie said.
He also expressed gratitude to the Ao villages, acknowledging their steadfast role in keeping “the story of the Naga Movement alive through the chaotic decades of our Naga struggles for the defence of its independence”.
“We thank them for passing on the baton to those who have stepped forward to be responsible for the Naga story,” he added.