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04/16/2008: "Fresh round of Naga talks today Nagarealm.com"
Fresh round of Naga talks today Nagarealm.com
A crucial round of talks, the first this year, between the NSCN-IM and the Centre is likely to be held this week to discuss the vexed Naga issue, a top leader of the group said on Monday.
"A team of NSCN-IM leaders led by general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah is in the national capital to hold talks with the Central team," NSCN-IM leader R H Raising said. "We are waiting for an appointment but the dates are not yet finalised," he said, adding the parleys are likely to be held this week. Expressing dissatisfaction over the delay in solving the Naga issue, Raising said "a more positive approach is needed of the Centre".
"The government should not carrying on with the delaying tactics but concentrate on addressing to our concerns," he told PTI. The Central team will be led by Union Minister Oscar Fernandes and comprise Minister of State Prithviraj Chavan, interlocutor K Padmanabhaiah besides others. NSCN-IM chairman Isak Chishi Swu, who is currently in Bangkok, will not attend the meeting, he said. Home Ministry sources said the talks will be part of the routine interactions agreed to by both the sides.
The group is likely to rake up the issue of reconciliation. Muivah had last week said genuine unification was only possible through reconciliation and the NSCN-IM is ready to go though anything and to any extent to achieve its goal of unification of Naga-inhabited areas. The NSCN-IM agreed to a ceasefire with the Centre in August 1997 and it has been extended several times and last year for an indefinite period. Over 60 rounds of talks have been held between the Centre and NSCN-IM.
Patil holds high-level meeting on Naga issue Bombay News.Net (IANS)
Home Minister Shivraj Patil Tuesday discussed how to take the dialogue forward with the Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM) after the dominant tribal separatist group expressed dissatisfaction over the delay in solving the Naga issue.
The NSCN-IM accused a section of the government of deliberately prolonging the peace process by going back on their promises and strongly suggested a more positive approach.
The rebel group has submitted a detailed charter of demands to the government, including a separate constitution for Nagaland, a 'new and unique' relationship with New Delhi and unification of Naga-inhabited areas of Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.
However, these three states have rejected this demand. The union government too has not made any commitment on the issue so far.
Among those who attended the meeting were union Minister Oscar Fernandes, who is playing a key role in restoring peace in Nagaland, principal interlocutor K. Padmanabhiah and Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta.
The NSCN-IM agreed to a ceasefire with the government in August 1997, which has been extended several times.
Over 60 rounds of talks have been held between the government's emissaries and the NSCN-IM both in India and abroad to discuss matters like the extension of the ceasefire, the group's demand for unification of Naga-inhabited areas and bitter clashes between rival Naga factions.
Joint forum to meet with Naga groups morungexpress
Dimapur, April 14 (MExN): The joint forum of the Nagaland GBs and DBs met on April 14 and decided to hold a meeting with all the Naga resistance groups “to pursue peace and unity.” The date and venue for the said meeting with the groups would be communicated to them officially within a few days, a note from the forum informed.
When queried on the issues that would be raised during the envisaged meeting, the convener of the forum, A Taku Longkumer, said that issues like the violation of the factions’ ceasefire agreement, killings and kidnappings would be raised. “Definitely we have to bring up these issues with the top leaders and discussed with the top leaders present” he said over phone. He lamented that factions’ ceasefire violation continues and would have to be sorted out.
Nagas should seek and sacrifice for peace morungexpress
Dimapur, April 15 (MExN): Expressing concern over the on-going Indo-Naga issue and seeking of a solution for the same, United Naga Democratic Party Advisor TA Ngullie said that “Any Solution for the Nagas is not for a group or section of people alone but it is for the Nagas and the Nagas will enjoy for generations after generations. We have to sacrifice and search for peace and solution.”
In maintaining the ongoing peace process between the Nagas and the Centre, Ngullie said that ‘nowhere any faction, no group should misguide the Naga people or the Government of India to break the present Peace talks and the efforts to let peace prevail in the land with cessation of violence.’ He asserted that “Nagas have been longing for Peace with love and understanding between India and the Naga people inspite of the painful memories of the past.”
Calling on the Naga Nationalists, he said that ‘this is a God given opportunity’ and because of the perseverance and patience of the present Naga under ground Leaders of all the different groups, Nagas have come to such a situation where Solution is not far off. He further continued in the same note that “This is the right time to achieve our cherished goal by shedding our differences and nurturing greater understandings in brotherhood. There is no second alternative except to approach united with the spirit of Forgive and Forget.”
Ngullie believes that the present talk is a good opportunity to ventilate the Political history of the Nagas. Therefore, he also appeals to all the peace loving Nagas to sacrifice their own self interests for success in their sincere efforts to find a permanent Peaceful Solution to the Indo-Naga Political problem. “The Nagas should unite emotionally to achieve solution in the Indo - Naga problem,” he further added.
KSU condemns action of FGN (Accordist) morungexpress
Dimapur, April 14 (MExN): The Kutsapo Students Union expressed resentment and condemned the FGN (Accordist) wherein on April 11 around twenty cadres with combat arms and in full uniform entered the village in the wee hours and kidnapped the village chairman and village development secretary around 3:30 am. A press note from the KSU president, Shelepa Rhakho stated that the cadres allegedly abducted the two without any rhyme or reason and moved out of the village towards Phek via Chozuba road. The two were released only when the village youths chased the cadres with daos and spears demanding the release of the two leaders unarmed, and the cadres in retaliation started firing at the youths, the note added.
The union in its press release has stated it as an act of terrorism and mentioned that creating tense situations and harassing the public is not the trend of solving the Naga issue. The Union has also asked them to clarify the reason for the kidnapping as the village has always been a place of safety for the national workers during atrocities meted out to them by the Indian army and is not a battle field.
Further the union has stated that the FGN (Accordist) have violated the resolution of the Chakhesang Students’ union and Chakhesang Public Organization, which served the factions not to move around freely in public inhabited areas with combat arms and ammunitions. The KSU without hesitation has warned that the union will not hesitate to fight and shall leave no stone unturned till justice is done and said that it would allow no faction to patrol within its jurisdiction, violating which the union and the village will sternly deal with traditional weapon to face any circumstances. The union further thanked the deputy commissioner, Phek for his support, and demanded the district administration and the government to provide befitting punishment deemed fit without delay.
Arunachal "risky" for pro-Tibetan rallies’ Agencies
Tawang, April 15 (Agencies): With the Beijing Olympic torch set to reach its New Delhi leg on April 17, authorities of Arunachal Pradesh, bordering China, have declared the state "sensitive" and a "risky" place to hold any pro-Tibetan demonstrations. The state's western parliamentary constituency MP, Khiren Rijiju, told reporters that authorities have made it clear that no demonstrations would be allowed in the state, which is a hotbed of border dispute, till the close of the Beijing games.
"However, I will definitely protest in New Delhi against the human rights violations in Tibet," Rijiju said. Tawang Superintendent of Police S N Mosobi said higher authorities have declared the state as sensitive and a risky place for pro-Tibetan demonstrations. Mosobi said section 144 of the CRPC has been clamped in the district to prevent any demonstrations. Police had dispersed a big pro-Tibetan rally in Tawang town on April 11, he added.
Meanwhile, state Governor Gen (retd) J J Singh said "China and India are two friendly neighbours" and "we should not do anything to deteriorate the relationship". He said confidence building measures were underway at the highest level. "Any bilateral issue should be tackled amicably and in a pragmatic manner," Singh added. However, people of Tawang, which is only about 15 km away from China, said "the Centre is neglecting" the district, often claimed by the Hu Jintao government as Chinese territory.
Unchanged Hearts in a Changing World morungexpress Editorial
Over the last few years we are all witnessing some degree of visible changes in Naga society. One can say that these changes are part of the natural process of social change and human progression; while also acknowledging that the occurrence of a number of events contributed in germinating conditions that have propelled these changes. A growing number of companies and brands have come to invest in the Naga economy, which have in turn has caused a ripple effect around issues of production and materialism. The presence of material progression cannot be denied, and yet one must critically assess and examine whether the pace and degree of material progression is equivalent to the progress of human development among the Nagas.
There is no doubt a growing consciousness is taking place in the minds of the people, particularly amongst the youths, who are more aware of global realities and the changing times in which we now live. And all of a sudden, there seems to be present a Naga ambience of entrepreneurial openness with growing interaction with the world. However I am not sure that a similar notion of change and interaction has occurred around issues of human development and human growth. In other words, the ongoing change taking place is only at a superficial and mechanical level with materialistic implication, and one that has not quite translated to the areas of human development and hence human relations.
In essence the lack of human development has limited the spirit of accommodation and understanding has not gone beyond our extended self. And so what we have is a modern Naga in tune with the latest happenings in the world, equipped with modern gadgets, dressed in the latest fashion and humming to the most recent music; and yet in spite of all this moderness, when faced with crisis, the modern Naga turns to ones own primordial self for refuge, and in the process unmasking the superficiality of one’s modern sophistication. Consequently, we continue to experience and perpetuate a dogmatic viewpoint of our existential realities which is constantly reinforced by a hierarchical perception of human relations, derived from an abused form of tribalism, which is manifested as an extended form of feudalism.
The material progress is therefore creating a very misleading perception in understanding the overall progression of the Naga people. Material progress can in no way be a substitute for human development. And therefore, inspite of all the materialistic growth, the Naga heart has not strayed far from its primordial sense of security, which is strongly attached to a stereotype insular image of tribalism. The image of an insular Naga heart wrapped in the finest modern clothing best demonstrates the contradiction between Naga growth and Naga materialism. The need for an all round human development cannot be undermined in the longer process of social change and there should be no contradiction between material progression and human development.
If and only when Nagas pay more attention to the issue of human development, than perhaps the desire for better roads, quality education, responsible social services, participatory democracy and good governance will become a possibility. Materialism does not necessarily lead to a change of heart, but it is the change of heart that paves the way for transformation to occur in our daily lives, and more importantly, it enables us to improve the way in which we relate to fellow human beings. In the Naga context, the issues of human relations acquire profound meaning and significance because it is through the good relationship fostered between different tribes, that the political identity of being a Naga becomes meaningful and real.
NSCN-IM flays conditional release Nagaland Post
Dimapur, April 15 (NPN): The NSCN (I-M) Tuesday called for the unconditional release of two of its activists – SO, Shomi Sharon and ASO, T. Shangremgam, who were abducted by GPRN/NSCN (Unification) recently.
The NSCN (I-M) in a press release issued by its MIP appreciated the release of some of its members by the rival group but was critical of the conditions placed on them and those from the civil societies who had negotiated the release. “There should be no condition to make a meaning of the release and to make a symbolic show of no ill intention in the name of unification,” the NSCN (I-M) said.
In the same vein, the faction questioned the rationale behind the abduction of one “Lt” Liose Sangam along with his vehicle by the “Unification group” from Dimapur on April 14.
Meanwhile, accusing what it described as “others who are insignificantly attached with NSCN under Khaplang and Khole” of keeping the duo, who had played a “great role in the formation of the NSCN” in the dark as revealed in a statement issued by NSCN (K) leader A.Z. Jami on March 3, the NSCN (I-M) in a separate release said it was indicative of “the highhandedness of the unification group at the expense of national principle.”
The NSCN (I-M) reiterated that “in the context of confusing state of contradictory press write ups in the name of unification” there could be no unification without going through the process of reconciliation among Nagas. Stating that reconciliation was a process “to enforce morality” towards unification, the NSCN (I-M) added that there should be no misinterpretation about “genuine unification” in this context.
NSCN-IM denies
The NSCN (I-M) Tuesday denied nine out the 18 names of Ao community national workers had joined GPRN/NSCN (Unification). A press release issued jointly by deputy kilonser, kilo affairs-cum-CAO, Ao Region, Arep Jamir and tatar Rema of Ao Region declared Lipokmeren, Rema Ponger, Wapang Jamir (all tatars), Lanu, B. Alem, Lanu Wati (all leacy) and Imti, C. Arep and Meyi (all raja peyu) did not join the “Unification” as reported.
UNDP on Naga issue- Nagaland Post
The Nagas should unite emotionally to achieve solution in the Indo-Naga problem. The present talk is good opportunity to ventilate the political history of the Nagas. There was enmity and hatred between the people of India and Naga people and have fought each other for many years. But through this talks and declarations of ceasefire, the Naga people and the people of India have come to an understanding. Due to this reason, India had recognized the Indo-Naga issue as a unique political problem and have decided to find out an acceptable solution.
Nowhere, no faction, no group should misguide the Naga people or the government of India to break the present peace talks and the efforts should let peace prevail in the land with cessation of violence. Nagas have been longing for peace, love and understanding between India and the Naga people, inspite of the painful memories of the past. We have to sacrifice and search for peaceful solution. This is God's given opportunity and I praise and thank the present Naga underground leaders of different group, because through their perseverance and patience, we have come to such a situation where solution is not so far.
Any solution for the Nagas is not for a group or section of people. But it is for the Nagas and the Nagas will enjoy for generations after generations. At no point of time, during my involvement and experiences as students' leader, as a politician and as public leader, in the Naga political problem since 1952, we have not come so close to reaching an acceptable solution. It is right time to achieve our cherished goal by shedding our differences and nurture greater understandings in brotherhood. There is no second alternative except to approach in unity with the spirit of forgive and forget.
I appeal to all peace loving Nagas to sacrifice our own self-interest to find permanent settlement of the Indo-Naga problem.
T. A Ngullie, advisor, UNDP.
Fighting the Mighty English K. Toshinaro Longchar
The Hill people of the Naga Hills: Our Naga forefathers
Continued from previous issue Nagas, with their practice of head hunting often raided the plains of Assam, Cachar, Manipur. British India appealed officially to the British for protection by 1830 from Nagas incursion. In 1832 led by Jenkins and Pemperton, hundreds of sepoy set out towards Angami and Kuchcha (Zeliangrong) country to look for a more direct route to Manipur from Assam. They were resisted in almost every Naga village. In the subsequent year, another expedition led by Lieutenant George Gordon, accompanied by the Raja of Manipur Gambhir Singh set out to the Naga country, patrolling and threatening with serious consequences if they continue the raids. It was the Empire’s display of power and control.
Why were the British interested? The logic is simple- the revenue from tea plantation was huge, and therefore could not afford to lose more coolie labourer to the already coolie shortage. They were also exploring, and sizing Naga Hills to provide potential labourer to the plantation. This British threat nonetheless did not have the expected result. Nagas continued the raids. In Samaguting (Chumukedima) an outpost was founded in 1846 as a result. In 1849, sepoy led by Bhogchand, traveled off to the Angami country as far as Mezoma. On their way to however most of them were killed in Piphima. British retaliate by burning Mezoma and setting up an outpost there. But within a few months the outpost was attacked, and burned down by the Mezoma and Khomona alliance. Few were killed and the remaining sepoy escaped to Samaguting. In 1850 the English made their 10th expedition to the Naga Hills. They started from Mezoma. On 10th December an attack were delivered on Khonoma under the command of Lieutenant Col. Foquet. With him were 500 men drawn from the First and Second Assam light Infantry battalion, 200 men of the Nowgong Police and 23 pounder guns. The fight lasted for 16 hours. Khonomans stood bravely, protecting their village. The next day when there was no retaliation from the villagers, the British sepoy sneaked in to the village to find it evacuated. So they burned the empty houses of Khonoma and went on to burn more villages, until they reached Kikruma. Kikruma retaliated very strongly. More then 100 Kikruman warriors lost their lives. Even Kohima village was not spared. Lord Dalhousie, the then Governor General, accepted the proposal of Major Butler to withdraw and leave the Nagas. Besides the lost of their own lives, the British also realized that it resulted capital loss to incur the expenditure on Naga expeditions with no foreseen prospects of revenue and Naga coolies. So in 1851 British Sepoy vacated the outpost of Samaguting.
But between 1851 and 1866, the Angamis, particularly Khonoma and Mezoma village continued the incursion in the plains. During that period about 40 outpost and villages were attacked, more than 300 lost their lives and 100 captives/slaves ( some writers like Keviyiekielie Linyu:2004, might suggest there was no slave practices among the Angamis; so slave or captives can be a debatable terminology) were taken, prompting the British to return to Naga country.
In 1866, Naga Hill district was formed within the Assam province. It is said that till then Nagas referred to the British as “Company man’. So news spread all around Naga Hills that the Company men were coming to kill all the Nagas, and seize each and every Naga village and make it theirs. Of course the responsibility to spread this apocalypse to all the peoples of Naga Hills fell on the burden of the Angamis. They faithfully and dutifully delivered the task. Almost every village in the Naga Hills prepared for this apocalypse. They knew the British were brutal, armed with superior arms and military organization. But all these fears were drowned rather, to the shame and fear of losing their villages to outsiders, and the refined dignity that the so called ‘wild barbaric people of the hills’ possessed to any intrusion and coercion prevailed. Another example from the Lotha area was when Capt. Butler ( son of Major John Butler) succumbed to the speared wounds he received when he was surveying Pangti for annexation. Pangti therefore also fell under the wrath of British fire in 1876.
One battle of incredible significance was the Anglo-Khonoma battle of 1879-1880. During that period, Mr. Damant was the Naga Hills district Political Officer, based in Kohima. Nagas, specially Angamis persistence, and defiance of the English intrusive civilization were becoming legendary. Among the Angamis, Khonoman were the fieriest or the ‘principal offender’ as the British would refer of them in their letters. So Damant, accompanied by an escort of the Frontier police, and the 43rd Bengal Infantry, set out to Khonoma via Jotsoma on 13th October 1879; a friendly visit but to stamp upon them- submission, and presence of the English in Angami country. Khonomans however killed Damant along with 33 escorts, 19 were wounded and took with them - their fire-arms. The other escorts took to the jungle.
This led to the Kohima revolt in October. Angami warriors of around six thousand, from various villages surrounded the English Garrison in Kohima. With Damant dead, Mr. Cawley, his assistant took responsibility for reinforcement. The closest safe contacts were Mr. Hinde in Wokha who reported to Kohima on 14th October, and Colonel( later Major-General) James Johnstone in Manipur. The desperation of Kohima situation are obvious in these lines:
“Surrounded by Nagas, cut off from water. Must be relieved at once. Send flying column to bring away garrison at once. Relief must be immediate to be of any use.” H.M. Hinde, A.P.A. Kohima. 25.x.79; and
“We are in extremity, come on sharp. Kohima not abandoned. Kohima not abandoned.” H.M. Hinde A.P.A Kohima. 26.x.79( quoted in Whitehead)
These messages were delivered to Johnstone by two ‘coolies’ (term used by both Johnstone and Whitehead). The slips of paper were clipped and hidden in the hair of the coolies. Johnstone even promised to award his Angami helper Rupees 200 if a letter to Mr. Cawley, begging to hold out since ‘they were marching to assistance’(Johnstone:1896), could be delivered before the place fell. Johnstone, then only 38, later in his memoir so poignantly captures his sadness to leave his fragile wife and two young children. His son, little Arthur died before he returned from the Kohima campaign . Johnstone recalls how he could not refuse the calling to serve his country. His country that was capturing and colonizing. However in Kohima, without completely attacking the British garrison, the Nagas around 11 am, 24th October stopped firing and the battle died away. Apparently some Naga elders came as intermediaries when through Naga ways of communication reached them about Johnstone’s approaching troop. The condition was, the English would evacuate Kohima, and they would be safely escorted to Samaguting.
But then in November, under Brigadier General J.L. Nation, British sepoy along with superior weapons marched to capture Khonoma. British reinforcement backed throughout the battle. Khonomans evacuated to their steep mountains of Jafvo(Japfu), for sanctuary under the cover of midnight darkness, but continued their guerrilla fight. Only then could the British enter Khonoma village, and burn it down. But this was not stopping the Khonomans. Khonoma most daring act yet was when from their hideout of Jafvo, their warriors emerged, and attacked the Baladhan Tea Estate in Cachar, killing the manager, and 16 of his labourers, and burning down villages in the plains on their way up to mount Jafvo. Infuriated, General. Nation thereupon enforced a strict vigilance and blockade of Jafvo and starved Khonomans. On 28 March 1880, Khonoma finally surrendered. They were punished with cash fines, forced to surrender their fire arms, demanded unpaid labour, and confiscated their village and terrace fields. British celebrated this occasion. A telegram was immediately sent to the Military General, reporting the occasion. Williamson to the Chief Commissioner Assam, dated 21st April, 1880 wrote, “the Khonoma terraced fields are of very great extent, and I do not think I am overestimating their value when I put them down at 4,00, 000 lakhs of Rupees…” Williamson evaluation was premature, because Khonomans resisted all pressures to re-settle them elsewhere but their land, and no village or Company dared to take over Khonoma fields. British Raj relented at last. “Khonoma rose again from its ashes” writes Whitehead. Contrasting in temperament as they might have been, T. Sakhire and Phizo were the protégés of these sacred ashes.
The mighty British never encountered anything like this. After the battle of 1879-80, the British decided to make amends with the Angami villages by appeasement- the best way to subdue the Nagas to some extend. Nonetheless the fierce pride of Naga warriors earned the deep respect of the British Officers. Our Nagas forefathers in the eyes of the colonialist administrators were elevated to 'special primitive specimen' rather than ‘potential coolies’ which played a huge role in placing Naga hills as a protected, and therefore excluded area through GoI Act 1935. Hence the unprecedented interest generated by colonial administrators and occident anthropologists: Hutton, Mills, Verrier, et al. Motivated by different interests, this led to counter-conflicts between the American missionaries, and the British. Apart from headhunting, the British wanted to preserve all the ceremonial Naga culture, whereas the missionaries wanted to spread the Gospel and provide formal education (the enormous contribution and a critique of the missionaries is not within the realm of this paper). In fairness, the English did made attempts to spread education; like during Rev.Miles Bronson brief missionary work 1839-41 in Namsang, village. But then the colonial motives for such ventures are clear in these lines by Jenkins to Maddock, “…I conceive that by a proper co-operation with that gentleman ( Bronson) and the encouragement of the Nagas to cultivate the products of their hills and tea in particular, we may have ere long to see civilization( subjection - in other words) greatly advance among these Nagas, and our supremacy gradually extended over the hills…”(quoted in Barpujari:2003).
The fact is, after the Khonoma siege, slowly, but gradually most part of Angami, Zeilang, Lotha, Rengma, Ao, and Sema country fell within the administrative apparatus of the English. But our Eastern Naga Frontier resisted the British, and despite some exploration they remained proud and un-administered by the mighty English. This sheer act of Eastern Nagas defiance was to become one of the pointing cornerstones of Naga independence within a period of fifty years.
While reading Naga history of this time, it is tempting to be marred by our obsession with ‘white people’ or ‘western’, as angelic creatures, refine, and culturally superior and therefore more ‘worthy’ then our very Naga forefathers. A knowledge hammered into our mindset by their centuries long propaganda of superiority, advancement, as oppose to our backward, primitive, wild junglis. There are legends where Naga women and children would touch the urine and spit of the white-men to smell, and see how they look, touch their skin lest their fairness rub on to them. Some might even argue “ Western capitalism through conquest and colonization was historically inevitable, and would have long-term progressive outcome for the ‘Rest’ .”(Stuart Hall:1992). They might have been more ‘superior’ in scientific rationality, and we might benefit, and learn from those developments within our own lenses. But we must also not forget the rationale of colonialism. The rationale that espouse that the ‘discovered natives’ were probably “descended from another Adam…born after the deluge and …perhaps no soul..” ( quoted in Hall: 1992); and if the natives were not endowed with reasoning, then are they human enough, to be recipients of grace ? What stage of evolution could the native be that they are so wild, and un-tamed? This religious hypocrisy, and believe in natural science, specially evolution served as the justification for control, slavery, slaughtering, and subjugation for unquenchable greed and power.
Our Naga struggle with the British, was frequently punctuated with English taking Nagas as hostage to other Assam outpost, villages burned to ashes, demanding revenue or tax at any given favorable opportunity, demanding to sign a treaty stating the land belonged to the British Raj, demanding porters with future prospects as permanent coolies. The social and psychological trauma were immeasurable. Thousands of our forefathers lost their lives resisting to submit to British Raj.
However the idea entertained by the British to plant the Nagas tribe in the tea plantation to meet the coolie crisis by organizing the Naga Hills, and land into feudal order like the Paharias and other Hill tribes were held back. They left before they could put a rein to that policy because of the sacrifices and resistance of our forefathers. It is true that Khonoma was fighting for the security of her land and village, likewise Pangti for theirs, like any other Naga villages. But unknown to them they were fighting for our future, our history, our collective Naga destiny. Because to outsiders, to the British, each individual village was an entity to the collective generic term call ‘Naga’. A term under which Nagas were soon going to define their nationhood. Why is this crucial history missing from our textbooks, our readings, our history, our national movement? Why ? When these sacrifices redeemed us from becoming the Adivasis of Naga Hills, Adivasis in our own sacred ancestral land. Yes, the literal meaning of Adivasis is ‘indigenous people’ or ‘original inhabitant’. But today in India mainstream socio-political context it is translated as landless outcaste. History can be cruel. Power can be ruthless. That’s why we can not afford to sell each other, choke each other, kill each other. We have come thus far.
