Naga Hoho leadership ready to pave way to rebuild and restore the body

Says Nagas have hypocritically taken ‘unity’ as synonymous with ‘uniformity’

Dimapur, Dec. 18 (EMN): While greeting the Nagas for peace and tranquillity this festive season, the Naga Hoho stated that it strongly believes in unity for an inclusive and honourable Naga Political solution and that ‘the current leadership is even ready to pave way if the Nagaland tribes are willing to come back under the banner of Naga Hoho to rebuild and restore it’.

The Naga Hoho said through a press release fervently appealled to all Naga people and the Political groups and leaders to come together for a journey of common hope for “one Nation, and one solution”. It added that the “struggle for freedom as a collective birth right is binding on all and it should be revered as sacrosanct, bigger and above all the Naga organisations and their leaders”.

It, however, reminded that “currently the Nagas seem to living in the ‘caged societies’ planted and nurtured by the ideological, organisational, and territorial politico-administrative divides compounded by an overriding loyalty to our respective ethnic and tribal communities”. It added that Nagas have failed to transcend the boundaries based on respective tribal groups despite the tall proclamation as a separate entity.

The Naga Hoho also claimed that “hawkish elements” have taken advantage of “divisive mentalities” to relegate the Nagas to mere prisoners, setting them up against each other as mutual enemies and tempted to think that one is better off confessing against the other. “But in doing so, both of them ends up worst off than they would have been if only they had cooperated and not defect against each other,” it stated.

“The failures of the past agreements and accords also corroborate the truths of these dilemmas that led groups to zealously guard their own group’s rational self-interests and choices which indeed have turned out to be the most irrational acts leading the Naga society into the present-day crises. The Nagas cannot afford to forget the past blunders and repeat it again,” the Naga Hoho stated.

It said that the choice before the Nagas is to talk to each other and find a common ground for an inclusive, honourable and acceptable solution. Stating that Nagas as an entity is like one body with many parts and each part is equally important for the well-being of all other parts, it said “piecemeal political solutions in the guise of securing constitutional rights without securing a common political future will not heal the land and its people”.

“Unity is unquestionably the desire of every Naga soul. However, unfortunately we have hypocritically taken ‘unity’ as synonymous with ‘uniformity’. While unity accepts differences necessitating the need for democratic dialogue, open-mindedness and mutual respects to work towards the recognition of common goal and the greater good of all as the fundamental basis for unity; uniformity involves an imposition of one’s will and preferences on others without space for negotiation and compromise,” it stated.

“… the Naga Hoho believes that Nagas are ‘one’ and the only way forward is to settle our differences through dialogue within the Naga family and to be unified in purpose by agreeing to converge at a non-negotiable position for recognition of the identity of the Nagas as embodied in the flag, constitution and integration of the Naga ancestral homeland,” it added.

Stating that 2020 is coming to an end and Christmas is at hand “to wish one another with the message of love and forgiveness”, the Naga Hoho has appealed to “every Naga leaders to forgive one another and embrace together with renewed vision so as to face the new challenges with the dawn of New Year”.

It also wished everyone a blessed Christmas season and a prosperous New Year 2021.