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05/13/2006: "Speech of Rh. Raising, Representative of the Nagas, made in the conference held at the Houses of Parliament, Westminster London,"
Speech of Rh. Raising, Representative of the Nagas, made in the conference held at the Houses of Parliament, Westminster London, on 11th May 2006.
Respected chairperson, distinguished dignitaries, ladies and gentlemen. It is indeed an honour for me to be invited to this august conference to speak on the situation in Nagalim (Nagaland). Nagalim is a land-locked country bounded by India in the west, Myanmar in the east and the south and China in the north. Nagas live in a compact contiguous area of about 120,000 sq. Km. that lies between the longitudes 92.5° E and 97.5° E and latitudes 23.5° N and 28.5° N. It has a population of about 4 millions, of which 95% are Christians. Nagalim stands as a corridor between the two regions of the South Asia and South East Asia. The Nagas share a close racial, social, historical and cultural affinity with the South East Asian people. The Nagas are not Indians racially, historically, culturally and politically. Among many writers, Sir Robert Reid, political Agent of Manipur (1931-32) also confirmed this.
The Naga nation is composed of 47 recognized tribes who belong to the same race, speak the same political language, practise the same culture, have the same history and social values, and profess the same religion. While English is the official language, Nagamese is the medium of communication among best part of the people.
Nagas are democratic politically and socialistic culturally. By democratic, it means any problem that arises among them is, by practice, settled in the Morung (public house) through discussion. As the Nagas are community-oriented people, they are socialists by culture. They are straight-forward, honest and considerate, but in the event of aggression on their identity, rights and territory they can still brave any grave situation even at the cost of their dear lives
They are sovereign, independent and free from any alien power since time immemorial. They have their own socio-political system based on their political philosophy, social values and culture. They too practised democratic form of governance even before the arrival of the British. Village is the basic unit of governance run by the village council headed by a chief.
It was in 1832 that the British colonial forces intruded into the Naga territory, where the Nagas put up tough resistance in defence of their rights, identity, culture, and territory for 48 years. However, the British forces finally occupied a part of Naga areas, but the rest remained uncontrolled and unadministered, which is as free as ever. There are no written treaties or agreements by which the sovereignty of the Nagas was transferred to the British. Nagas are by nature loyal to their commitments and friendly with both friends and foes, whenever they have entered into an agreement. They were friendly and co-operative with the British power. They sent 4,000 Naga volunteers to France in support of the British led allied forces in the World War I. In the Second World War too, the Nagas steadfastly supported the British.
On 10th January, 1929, the Nagas under the banner of the Naga Club submitted a memorandum to the Simon Commission sent by the British parliament to express their national aspiration. It stated that the Nagas should be left alone to determine their own future by themselves.
On 15th July 1947, Naga delegates met Mahatma Gandhi the father of the Indian nation at Bhangi Colony, Delhi where, he stated, “Nagas have every right to be independent. I believe in the brotherhood of man, but I do not believe in forced marriage and forced union. If you do not want to join the union of India, nobody will force you to do that, the congress government will not do that”.
Sir Raja Gopalajari, the first governor general of independent India told the Naga delegation at the Government house, Shillong, “India wants to be friendly with the Nagas. Nagas are at full liberty to do as they like, either to become a part of India or be separated if it would be best for their interest to be isolated”.
After 67 years of British occupation, Nagas in the occupied areas declared Independence on 14th August 1947, one day ahead of the Indian Independence. This information was sent to UNO with a copy to the government of India. UN’s acknowledgement was received from Salt Lake, USA. The cable read:
“Benign Excellency (.) Kindly put on record that the Nagas will be Independent (.) Discussions with India are being carried on to that effect (.) Nagas do not accept Indian constitution (.) the right of the people must prevail regardless of size”.
Betraying their commitments given to the Naga delegates, Government of India (GOI) refused to recognize Naga Independence alleging that it was the handiwork of a few Naga leaders. In 1950, the Indian Constituent Assembly invited the Nagas to join the Union of India, which was rejected out-rightly by the Naga people. The Nagas thereafter, conducted a plebiscite on 16th May, 1951, wherein 99.9% voted in favour of sovereign independent Nagalim. The result was dispatched to the President and Prime Minister of India. It was also sent to the Secretary General, UNO. Suppressing the democratic and non-violent approach of the Nagas the Government of India forcibly conducted the first and second Indian general elections in 1952 and 1957, but the Nagas boycotted both the general elections and many others.
Thereafter, the Indian state started deploying hundreds of thousands of its armed forces to conduct military campaigns all over Nagalim beginning from 1954. In the process 250,000 innocent Nagas were killed. But their attempts to subdue the Nagas through military might were all futile exercises as the Naga people refused to accept the Indian constitution. In pursuit of its political strategy the government of India convinced some opportunists to sign ‘the Sixteen Point Agreement’ that created the present so-called Nagaland state in 1963. It was however, rejected by the Naga people.
General Thimaya, the then chief of Indian Army who conducted military operations in Nagalim observed and declared, “ a) Naga problem is political issue b) treating Naga issue as law and order problem would be wrong and c) therefore, it needs political treatment apart from military treatment”.
At the initiative of the Nagalim Baptist Church Council (NBCC), a ceasefire agreement was reached on 6th September, 1964 between the Government of India and the Federal Government of Nagaland to pave the way for political talks, yet it ended in a dead-lock on account of Indian colonial policy which was followed by resumption of armed confrontations between the two forces.
A few years later, a Delegation of Federal Government of Nagalim signed an accord in1975 known as the ‘Shillong Accord’ in the name of Federal Government of Nagaland and Naga National Council (NNC), which accepted the Indian constitution unconditionally. It was however, totally condemned and rejected by the Naga people in their National Hoho (Assembly) as an accord of treason.
As the national movement could not be continued under the banner of the Naga National Council (NNC) for its implication in the Shillong Accord, the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN) was formed and declared in the National Assembly in 1980. It was a great victory of the democratic Naga people. But the Indian aggressor does not stop there. After eight years of its birth, the Indian state through its intelligent agency and Naga traitors hatched a conspiracy and engineered an abortive coup attempt in 1988 through Mr. S.S. Khaplang, the then vice president of NSCN. Like the people’s militia of East Timor, Khaplang’s henchmen backed by Indian armed forces have been fighting against NSCN, the authentic political organisation of the Naga People since then. Within a few years, NSCN could make the outside world understand of the Naga case to a great extends through intensive lobbying in the international political arena. Outside world was totally disinformed of situation in Nagalim. NSCN became a member of Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) on January 23, 1993.
In the 47th session of the Commission on Human Rights, Mr. Boutros Boutros Ghali, the then Secretary General, UNO officially acknowledged the written statement of Mr. Isaak Chishi Swu, the Chairman of NSCN. The acknowledgement read, “There is Human Right Situation in Nagaland”. It was circulated in accordance with ECOSOC Resolution 296(XLVI).
The National Socialist Council of Nagalim is committed to a total ban of the use of uncontrolled anti-personal mines in signing the Geneva Call Deed of Commitment on 17th October 2003.
Current Peace Process: The declared principles of NSCN are freedom from all kinds of bondages and independence from any foreign domination. Besides, close relation with other people and nations on the basis of mutual respect and recognition of rights. One of the significant steps taken by NSCN is the shift of policy and strategy from guerrilla warfare to mass warfare, from machine gun warfare to computer warfare and from armed confrontation to political negotiation. Nagas are committed to political solution and they shall abide by that if otherwise dictated by circumstances.
After decades of fighting, Indian political authorities in Delhi and the three former Indian Army generals including Gen. Shanker Roy Chaudhury, chief of Indian Army stated. “Military solution is not possible. It is time for India and the Nagas to talk across the table. So why not start political dialogue?” They too felt that a lasting solution to the long-drawn Indo-Naga issue through political dialogue was inevitable Realising the futility of military solution, Government of India sent feeler after feeler to the NSCN leadership for political dialogue. Thus, the second ceasefire agreement was signed between the government of India and NSCN as two entities on 1st August, 1997 to start political negotiation on the three agreed terms. (1) Talks without any conditions (2) Talks at the Prime Ministerial level and (3) In a third country.
The political talks between the government of India and NSCN were held at the following venues: 1) Paris 2) New York 3) Bangkok 4) Zurich 5) Geneva 6) Amsterdam 7) Kaula Lampur 8) Chiangmai 9) Milan 10) Vienna 11) the Hague 12) Osaka and 13) New Delhi.
At the Amsterdam talks in 2002, the government of India and NSCN signed a joint communiqué which officially recognized the ‘Unique history and situation of the Nagas’. It signifies that Nagas are not a party to the Union of India when it was formed and declared in1950. It was further affirmed that situation in Nagalim is political and not a law and order problem. It is created by the aggressor not by the Nagas. They also stated that since the case was unique, solution had to be unique. Another response to our chief negotiator Th. Muivah, Ato Kilonser (Prime Minister), Government of the People’s Republic of Nagalim, in the recent talks was ‘Solution outside the box’. This given term bears political interpretation.
With a view to having wide ranging consultations with our people on the current peace process, NSCN has conducted consultative meetings for five times, where all sections of Nagas from across the length and breadth of Nagalim attended. At the 4th consultative meeting held at Hebron on 20 and 21 January 2005, the collective leadership of NSCN was reaffirmed and mandated for working out an honourable solution to the Indo-Naga political issue.
In spite of their assurances and commitments given to the NSCN, the Government of India has not taken any concrete political steps so far. We have tabled a number of points on substantive issues for solution, but there is no tangible response from the Government of India till date. The Naga people have become restive and impatient in waiting for almost a decade for positive a response from the Government of India. At this crucial juncture, we strongly feel the need for a third party mediation.
The British, being once our colonial power, have the moral responsibility to say something on the issue so that justice is done to the Nagas. We feel that the Nagas are the innocent victims of the British intentional silence on the Indo-Naga issue. I, on behalf of the Naga people and Government of the People’s Republic of Nagalim, would like to appeal to the British people and their government in particular and the world community in general to help solve the problem.
We are very happy that the Parliamentarians for National Self-Determination (PNSD) has come into existence to champion the cause of all the suppressed and dominated peoples and nations like Khalistan, Kashmir, Nagalim and others. I, on behalf of the Naga people, assure the PNSD of our best possible cooperation and good wishes.
Let this be known to the whole world.
