Naga people need to engage in soul-searching — Wati Aier

Our Reporter
Dimapur, Dec. 10 (EMN): Convener of Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR), Rev. Dr. Wati Aier said that it be futile for the two Naga political groups in talks with the government of India to undo the other and keep on “mustering the Naga primordial instinct of rightness over the other”, as the Centre has officially signed the ‘framework agreement’ with NSCN (IM) and the ‘agreed position’ with the WC-NNPG.

Speaking at a webinar to commemorate Human Rights Day, organised by the Naga People’s Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR), Aier said that Nagas will do well to listen to the age-old principle that ‘one cannot stand too long by standing on another’s misery’.

“The seventy years of Naga political narrative is like basket that is filled with the tragic fruit of animosity and disagreements and this is a result of many factors, including the harm inflicted on us, and the harm we have inflicted upon others,” he stated, adding that the first thing for Nagas to do is to think where they stand today.

Aier further stressed that the Indo-Naga political talks need to be identified and named in its de facto platform, and the obligation in this case is to pursue a political solution, for what is inevitably a political issue.

He also pointed out that Naga political history is a protracted one, and “we must remain vigilant, however, to never permit these less desirable qualities to engulf the hard earned relationship that the government of India and Nagas have built”.

By keeping in mind ‘our common obligations to each other, we also remember our humanity amidst our differences,’ he added.

The Naga public needs to patiently understand the key bodies in the peace process, and also recognise that this process is mentally and emotionally draining for all sides, Aier stated, adding that the irony of ‘our situation is that discipline is most needed when we are most drained’.

‘It takes discipline to keep from blaming those who differ from us, to practice reciprocity and to be obliged to each other,’ he shared.

Aier further stated that at the centre of the political peace process, Nagas must accept the hard fact that political idealism without a fitting form in its historical setting will only remain a subjective concept, adding that freedom takes hard work and constructive mindset.

“Freedom clearly implies a high degree of responsibility towards building structures—whether these are solid foundations upon which our houses will stand; wide bridges that will connect us to each other; or paved roads that will take us to our destinations. Minus this fundamental sense of responsibility, freedom will never exist,” he stated.

Also, Aier observed that in the face of hard times today due to Covid-19, ‘truths about others and ourselves appear to be increasingly relative, where false stories are widely distributed and quickly digested’.

To an extent human rights have always been vulnerable to misinterpretation and misrepresentation, he added. “Nevertheless, Human Rights Day gives us a greater opportunity to reclaim the idea from its abstract and cynical categories,” he said.

Neingulo Krome, secretary general of NPMHR, replying to a query, said that the ‘weakening of our struggle is the fault of both young and old generations because the leaders have not been successful in inspiring the young generations and the younger generations is also not able to take up responsibility and is full of blames and accusations, and thus the fault is in both ways’.