‘Nagalim is the soul of Naga Nationhood’

Land and water are the foundations of history and politics of a people and their sovereign nation-states. All the village-states, the city-states and nation-states of the peoples and nations were built on the foundation of their respective lands. A national territory and water are the arch-pillars of a nation-state. As people and land are inseparable so also people and water are. We know people do not hesitate even to sacrifice their lives for their country when it is challenged by the aggressors.

Sacrificing life for one’s own country is an adored nationalism. All wars in history were fought over land and water. The first and the second world wars were fought among the imperialist powers over the land and water of other nations with colonial motives. But ultimately, they faced crushing defeats in the hands of the revolutionary nationalist forces of the native peoples. The policy of expansionism and colonialism is a thing of the past already condemned and buried by the world today. And that any state or country that tries to exhume the corpse of colonialism will certainly face the judgment of history.

A people cannot imagine politics without land. Refugees, nomadic people and immigrants do not have politics of their own. Of course, they may be granted members of a political community or citizenship of a country they migrated to. But launching a political movement by a group of refugees or immigrants for a separate homeland or a separate state in other people’s country is an act of aggression on the inherent right of the native people and their land. Claiming citizenship of a country with forgery documents from fraudsters is a crime against the state. Planting foreign populations in an occupied territory of a native people for marginalising the native people is equally an act of colonialism and expansionism to be condemned.

We cannot imagine creating a nation-state without land. The history of a people or a nation is naturally rooted in their land. Land is the foundation of a state. The politics of a people is founded in the solid ground of land and history. Politics is naturally about the creation of a nation-state, governance of a state, protection of a state, defending the right and freedom of a people. It is about the sovereign power to determine the future of a people by themselves. Can a people imagine creating a kingdom without land? Can they build a house without a foundation? I don’t think so.

Land is the centre of a nationhood. Land and a people are inseparable; land and the history of a people are inseparable; land and the politics of a people are inseparable; land and the freedom of a people are inseparable; land and the sovereign right of a people are inseparable; land and the culture of a people are inseparable; land and the identity of a people are inseparable; land and the God of a people are inseparable.

The Naga people have their own land to belong. And this Nagalim is their portion of land from the Lord. Nagalim is home to millions of Nagas, who have been living here for thousands of years and they will continue to live here for thousands more years to come. We are born here, we will live here and we will die here. Our land and water are integral parts of our nationhood.

Our national economic resources come from our land: Crops and grains come from it; oil and gas come from it. Gold and coal come from it; iron and copper come from it; clothing and housing materials come from it; flora and fauna come from it and forest and water come from it. Nagalim is the soul of Naga nationhood. The day we stop defending it and the day it is sold out or murdered, we will definitely become a lost people. Therefore, it is the sacred duty of each and every Naga to defend Nagalim from all aggressors and make this hilly country a land of milk and honey. This is the sovereign will of God of the Nagas.

A brave generation comes and goes; a dynamic leadership comes and goes; a political organization comes and goes, but land and the word of God stay. ‘Nagalim for Christ’ is the word of God. It will ever stand. The invincible spirit of Naga nationalism comes from it. The spirit of self-sacrifice of the Nagas comes from it; the un-daunting fighting spirit of the NSCN comes from it. The tireless strength of the Nagas for the cause comes from it. Indeed, our strength comes from the Lord.

It is said that nothing will be impossible for those who trust in the Lord: no harden heart of a king is too hard to win over; no number of the enemy forces are too strong to fight through; no problem is too hard to solve; no roaring sea is too strong to cross over and no mountain is too high to climb up. The problem is not the enemies, it is our unbelieving hearts. The problem is not the organization, it is our broken faith. The problem is not the arms, it is our dead spirit. The problem is not the economic sources, it is our famine of knowledge. The problem is not the people, it is our traitorous hearts.

But the proven fact is that hundreds of uncommitted workers deserted the cause when the storms came, but the revolutionary Naga people stayed the course. The collaborators joined the enemy forces to exterminate the patriots, but they survived by His grace. Some organizations betrayed the cause, but the revolutionary Naga people stood the ground. Faithless people wavered and looked back, but those who trust in the Lord keep moving with determination and faith. The presence of the Lord has been with the Nagas since day one because it is the ‘Lord’s battle.’

The Nagas cannot part with the issue of ‘Nagalim for Christ’ because the future of the Nagas is in it. The history, the politics, the kingdom and everything of the Nagas are in it. We must uphold it at all costs and in all weathers. We must solve the problem.

We cannot afford to make mistakes at the negotiating table. If we make mistakes, everything will fall. If the issue is murdered, our land will be possessed by the aggressors; our people will become their subjects and our children will be assimilated. The invaders will rewrite our history. Our identity and culture, our songs and language, our geography and political concept and our laws will be totally changed. The good name of the Naga nation will be deleted from the pages of history if we do not stand firm.

The prolonged negotiations and delayed solution has a negative impact on the psychology of the weaker sections of the Nagas. It is known to all that the Government of India is deliberately playing attrition politics vis-a-vis the Indo-Naga peace process. We must not succumb to its diabolic policy. But our people sitting on the fence are very judgemental. They used to praise the works of the aggressors, but they are blind to the achievements of their own people. It is good to know – who are our people and who are our enemies; who are on our side and who are on the side of the enemies.

Then, what is to be done? How long shall we stick to the blame game which doesn’t have any merits to the cause of our people? Can the politics of mudslinging solve the problem? Some of the intellectuals of our own people infested with the virus of critic culture are witnessed to be ever-ready to cry down the workers in the forefront of the movement. They are the dogs in the manger.

Formation of many factions to claim majority in the negotiating table will not solve the problem. Paper warfare will not solve the problem. Hundreds of decisions will not bring solutions unless they are action oriented. Hundreds of agreements will not bring solutions unless they are national issue-based.

Therefore, let us look for the survival strategies to deliver us a solution. The solution we are looking for is in our national principle, not in the east or in the west. It is in our right to decide our future by ourselves, not in the decision of the colonial power. It is solely in the sovereign name of the Lord who creates every kingdom.