Mokokchung, 29 July (MTNews): Aimed at fostering peace and reconciliation, various Naga organizations have come together to endorse the Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR) in undertaking a goodwill mission to Manipur. The decision was made following a meeting convened by the FNR today, 29 July, where prominent Naga groups pledged their support for the initiative.
The participating organizations included Eastern Naga Peoples’ Organization, Naga Hoho, Nagaland Gaon Bura Federation, Naga Students’ Federation, Tenyimi Peoples’ Organization, Global Naga Forum, and Fellowship of Naga Baptist Association, which represents a total of 60 Baptist associations. Additionally, the Nagaland Joint Christian Forum, with a membership of 3,786 plus churches, has also extended its support to the FNR’s proposed mission.
The participating groups further called upon “other Naga organizations to render their supportive co-operation.”
Following this resolution, the FNR in its statement, ‘A Call to Goodwill’ said, “The Nagas take an essential moment to deeply reflect on the foreseeable impact of current events in Manipur on our land and society.”
“The present turmoil in Manipur outlines similar patterns of conflict confronted by ethnic peoples and their neighbors around the globe,” the FNR stated, adding that in the last few months, the region has witnessed “frenzied construction of walls along social, ethnic, and communal lines, which has further resulted in the perpetuation of intolerance and demonization of the other.”
All this, FNR said, has led to breaking down of the social fabric and fragmentation of goodwill and civility among neighbors. It further said, “Naga people, in the broadest sense, must vigilantly guard against playing any role in erecting walls of our own.”
“We resolve to abstain from succumbing to hatred and innuendos of any kind. Nagas will remain clear and free of violence, be it through written words, mythmaking, propagating falsehoods, discriminating against specific people groups, or the causing of physical harm. We will not be provoked and it is our moral responsibility to see that these acts are not entertained in the Naga areas,” the FNR stated.
Accordingly, the FNR put into record its commitment to “strive for goodwill and civility among ourselves and our neighbors. We call upon all to offer life-sustaining choices of non-violence and solidarity with those around us.”