A meeting of the Working Committee of the Naga People’s Front (NPF) held on Tuesday at the NPF central office in Kohima adopted some resolutions “unanimously,” according to the NPF.
The meeting deliberated at length on the on-going peace process vis-à-vis the possible outcome of the present political talk between the Government of India and the NSCN (I-M) and NNPGs. The NPF said it is of the opinion that any solution that is to be arrived at out of the ongoing political negotiation needs to be seriously examined before making a final shape, as past agreements and accords have not produced the desired result which ultimately led to more divisions among the Nagas rather than bringing the Nagas together. “Hence, the house resolved to reiterate the party stand i.e. solution should be honourable, acceptable and inclusive,” the NPF added.
The meeting also resolved to revamp and re-strengthen the party at all levels. The meeting also invited all well wishers of NPF to come forward and associate with the party activities in order to take the Naga people forward as Nagas are going through a very critical phase of the political movement.
Meanwhile, NPF president Shurhozelie Liezietsu, in a statement, made the political stand of the party. “The Naga People’s Front, the only viable and the oldest regional political party for the Nagas in the Northeast, has been on its same political stand since its inception 59 years ago,” stated Shurhozelie Liezietsu.
“Since the beginning of troubled days in the fifties, many people treated this problem as a law and order problem and various methods to suppress the movement were tried by different agencies and the Naga people lived through it with untold miseries,” the NPF chief added.
According to Shurhozelie Liezietsu, when the “16-Point Memorandum” was signed by the Government of India with the group which was playing the role of mediation, leaving aside the main conflicting group for whom the agreement was proposed, the “16-Point Memorandum” completely failed to stop the bloodshed but it brought more bloodshed to the land. During this time, according to the NPF president, this regional political party was formed to give a new direction to the problem for its solution.
The party proclaimed that ‘the problem in Nagaland is not a law and order problem but it is a political problem and a human problem and, therefore, it demands political and human approach for its solution, he added. With this in mind, according to Dr Shurhozelie Liezietsu, the pioneers had chosen the Latin catch word “Fide non Armis” (Faith, not Arms) as the motto of this party.
He then said, “Today, we have seen that our leaders christened this very word as its motto with farsightedness and much wisdom. We are proud to have inherited such a noble stand and, therefore, all of us must understand this commitment and strive to work ceaselessly till the goal is achieved”.
Shurhozelie Liezietsu also said that time keeps on changing but the Naga political problem will continue to remain the same till it is amicably solved which is ‘honourable, acceptable and inclusive.’
This political party, according to the NPF president, does not and will not side with any particular group but to maintain proper understanding with all conflicting groups by telling them the truth. He further said that Nagas have to blame “ourselves for the mess we have come across thus far”.
Shurhozelie Liezietsu further added, “It is high time for every one to realize the ground realities”, while further adding, “We will, therefore, continue to appeal to the conscience of our national workers to understand the common interest of our people to solve this problem amicably which, we believe, will be in the interest of the whole country as well”.
