Staff Reporter
DIMAPUR, AUGUST 14
UNDER a rain-soaked August sky – during the celebration of the 68th Naga Independence Day at camp Hebron – ato kilonser of Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagalim Th Muivah on Thursday took a marked turn down the path untrodden yet and called upon his organization “to examine which direction the NSCN has chosen to take after the (signing of the) ceasefire.”
In a brutal appraisal delivered during his customary Independence Day speech, Muivah regretted that the current crop of NSCN cadres were more concerned about “money and land.” For the NSCN-IM, he said, such vice(s) represent their “number one fault” and “number one sin.”
Muivah repeatedly invoked the name of the Jehovah, while insisting that the latter has never failed the Naga nation. “My dear countrymen, let us understand together that God has always been with us.
“And you Nagas, we Nagas, we the NSCN have failed to understand God. That is the issue now. That is the problem,” Muivah said while adding that the gap between “the NSCN and Jehovah is clear now.”
He said current NSCN corps – to whom he addressed as friends – were interpreting the “whole system” of ceasefire and peace talks according to their own will. “Where is the NSCN today? This is the very point we have to understand today.
“When will the NSCN repent? Now is the time, the Bible says. But the NSCN does not care. But unless we do that (repentance), we will always have a problem,” Muivah told his fellow national workers.
Calling upon his NSCN members to “initiate” the process of repentance, Muivah said, “That will be the solution.”
Even as his address was titled as a “briefing on the Indo-Naga political talks”, Muivah did not throw any significant light on the present status of the negotiations. He talked at some length about how the freedom movement had taken shape after the Shillong Accord and underscored that “Shillong Accord cannot be the end of Naga history.”
And what followed, besides his call for repentance, was markedly more inclined towards how New Delhi had finally acknowledged the unique history of the Nagas and agreed to settle for a political solution instead of a military solution. In other words, there was hardly any new piece of information in regards to the Indo-Naga political talks.
Muivah, however, informed that the constant changes to the seat of interlocutor for the Indo-Naga talks have been posing a problem to the NSCN-IM.
The yaruiwo of Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagalim, Isak Chishi Swu, in his address insisted that his outfit has been faithful to the cause of freedom movement. “In our humble efforts we have not failed in any of the confrontations we have faced.
“But while we are heavily engaged in the cause, people with vested interest have been sabotaging the historic movement of the people. They went even to the extent of shouting against payment of taxes to the nation. We will not remain silent when mobs are allowed to take liberty against the aspiration of the nation,” Swu cautioned.
He, however, added that the NSCN-IM was willing to listen to the grievances of the people. Isak also underscored the need for Delhi and the NSCN-IM to “arrive at some meeting point” to realize a permanent solution.
“The NSCN has come as close as possible but they cannot go beyond the limit, that amounts to selling off the historical and political rights of their people. If realistic steps are not taken, anything can happen at any time.
“Therefore, alertness is a must and we all ought to be prepared for any eventuality or even get ready for the worst,” he warned.
