On the 42nd Republic Day Anniversary of the NSCN (I-M), its chairman Q Tuccu stated that the organisation believes the Naga issue can be settled through political talks as “all wars in history and all human problems are settled with the politics of negotiation and agreement.”
“We strongly believe lndians and Nagas can walk together, work together, live together and fight together through agreement both in the time of peace and war,” stated Tuccu in his message.
He asserted that the Naga political solution will not come from the East or West, it will come only from the bilateral talks between the Nagas and lndian leaders.
The Government of lndia invited the NSCN leadership to have political dialogue with them for a lasting political solution, it stated. But any agreement that is not based on the issue is no solution at all, it added.
“Nagas are highly political people. We are issue-based people; we are principle- based people who can never be lured and purchased with quantum of money or high sounding promises. The Government of India must not repeat the wrong colonial 'carrot and stick policy.' Colonialism is a thing of the past already condemned by the world today,” it stated. lndian leaders admitted that the so-called 16-point agreement and the Shillong Accord did not solve the problem, it added.
“I believe lndian leaders today will not commit the mistakes of the past. For the Nagas, we survive if we hold fast to the issue, but we perish if we drop it,” Tuccu stated.
ln 1950, the constituent Assembly of lndia invited the Nagas to join the Union of lndia, but it was rejected by the Naga people, it stated. Had the Nagas joined the Union of lndia 71 years ago, they would have been assimilated and perished in the ocean of lndian cultural imperialism, the message added.
“Our fathers clearly understood that there is no future for the Nagas when their sovereign right to decide their future by themselves was murdered. The big no to the Union of lndia had saved the future of the Nagas. The Nagas are alive and kicking on account of that historic decision,” he added.
Further, the message stated that in the negotiations, the lndians and the Nagas leaders took their respective parallel stands never to meet. The stand of Government of India was - 'solution within the parameter of lndian constitution and Union of lndia' whereas the stand of the Nagas was –'nothing to do with lndia, nothing short of total independence and total sovereignty,' it added.
After a long series of talks, the Government of lndia proposed the Framework Agreement as a formula of win/win solution, it stated. All the successive Prime Ministers of lndia understood that Nagas will not merge with Union of lndia, but they are willing to coexist with Union of lndia, it added.
They are also well informed of it that Nagas will not accept Indian constitution; however, they are not opposed to sharing sovereign powers with lndia, it stated.
History tells that Naga country is composed of thousands of sovereign independent village-states which were ruled by councils of elders headed by kings, it further stated adding but their independent and peaceful life was threatened when the British colonial forces intruded into the Iand of the free Nagas. The Naga people felt the necessity of forming a united force under the banner of one national government and organization to confront the aggressors in defense of their land, it stated. So, the birth of a republic government was necessitated, it added.
His message mentioned that the Republic government called Federal Government of Nagaland was formed on March 22, 1956. But its legitimacy was ceased with the signing of the Shillong Accord in 1975, it added. Thus, the second Republic government called the Government of the People's Republic of Nagalim was formed and declared on this day, the March 21, 1980, it stated.
The lndian authorities also acknowledged the historical fact that the Nagas have the history of independence; they have neither been a part of the Union of lndia nor that of Burma, Tuccu stated.
“The Framework Agreement is the meeting point of the two sovereign peoples. Sensible Nagas understand that this is one of the options were the lndians and the Nagas can come closer to each other because it serves the purposes of both the parties. And therefore, it would be a great loss for them if they would betray the Framework Agreement or miss the chance. But as for the Nagas, we will keep the Framework Agreement,” he added.
