Presidential Address of His Excellency the President Lieut.Gen.(Retd.) Khango Konyak on 45th Republic Day

My dear Countrymen,

I give all glory and honour to our Almighty God for his love and grace that sustain us and is cautiously scheming the destiny of the Nagas as a chosen people.

On this auspicious day, it would be dishonourable not to accredit the pioneers of the Naga Political movement and acknowledge the sacrifices of thousand of Naga patriots, who have paid the price in blood, sweat and tears for the cause of Naga political struggle. I, therefore salute all the brave hearts and the true sons of the soil, who have made ultimate sacrifices for our better today. But can we sacrifice ours today for the better tomorrow?

Dear friends and compatriots,

This day marks another milestone of our unrelenting efforts and the struggle to defend our inherent political rights to assert our unique tradition and customs and to commemorate the day Nagas established us as a Republic of Nagaland-“Sovereign Christian Socialist Democratic Republic”. However, the external divisive forces and the influence of the disoriented world, void of ethics and ethos, have penetrated the Naga society to destroy and dilute the unadulterated Naga custom and traditions. In the line of our political struggle, we should zealously protect our unique traditions and customs that structured the very fabric of the Naga society, as we cannot identify ourselves as a Nation without any distinct identity marker.

The NSCN is committed to the common endeavour of realising an honourable political solution at the earliest, and to do this, it is open to the prospect of working cohesively with other Naga political groups. In this regard, the NSCN with the approach from the respective entity, has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NSCN(Akato), NNC(PB) Z. Royim and NNC/NA(MK) Mhathung Tsopoe , to knit a fabric of inclusiveness, as it the requisite ingredient to any “honourable solution”.

The Nagas have come a long way and strayed from the destined trail, inching towards obscurity and the realm of uncertainty, yet the ‘return ticket” is but still affordable with the joint venture of all the Naga political groups with the common objective.

The past cannot be undone but the future can be realised with the common effort.

“When two parties come for settlement

They must come with the spirit of give and take”

The Naga political development is at its pinnacle, and to exert thrust to the momentum, the government is geared up to initiate political dialogue with the Government of India (GoI) as endorsed by the People’s Council during the National Tatar Hoho  at Thamsao Designated Camp. The implementation of Ceasefire without sitting across the table to hammer out feasible approaches to conclude the prolonged Naga political issue is all but futile and barren. Assuredly to reinforce the term ”Republic”, the charter of demand will be people centric and the desire of the Nagas will be the epicenter of the political dialogue.

We are thankful to the entire stakeholders for shouldering the mammoth task of mediating between various Naga political groups without ceasing. The government acknowledge the recent Kütsapo proclamation under the theme” Liberating the Naga Spirits” jointly organised by Naga Shisha Hoho (NSH) and the Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR) to re-affirm the Covenant of Reconciliation (CoR).It has made us to realise that at the end of the day, the will of our Almighty God is binding on the outcome of the human efforts.

Let us all keep our faith in God to deliver us from the bondage, whilst continuingly keep the spirit of nationalism burning.

GOD BLESS NAGALAND

KUKNALIM

 Lieut. Gen.(Retd.) Khango Konyak