In a recent Joint Council Meeting, the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN-IM) discussed various pressing issues, including the Government of India’s (GOI) response to the Supreme Court orders regarding the Oting incident in Mon district on December 4, 2021. The meeting also discussed the Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN), the denial of the use of the term “Naga” by the Arunachal Pradesh government, Free Movement Regime/Border Fencing, and the latest updates on the Indo-Naga peace process.
As per the records of the meeting that was held on October 1, 2024 at CHQ Church, where several agendas were deliberated on, apart from administering the oath of allegiance, the NSCN/GPRN reiterated its commitment to safeguarding the Naga identity.
According to the meeting records, signed by the Deputy Ato Kilonser and the Kedallo, a copy of which is in the possession of this newspaper, the meeting declared that the NSCN/GPRN shall “safeguard the principle of Naga Nationhood as espoused by our forefathers through the 1929 Simon Commission.” It also declared that the NSCN/GPRN “shall not let go in vain the sweat and tears, blood of the forebearers; and many hundred thousands of lives sacrificed at the altar of freedom.”
The NSCN-IM argued that “Nagas have been continually victimized with too many divisive policies that infringe on our political, economic, social, and cultural rights; not lesser even in dignity, liberty, equality, and brotherhood.” It maintained that “the indigenousness of a ‘Naga’ cannot be calibrated by an arbitrary boundary; Nagas everywhere are indigenous, irrespective of one’s place of birth or profession, culture, or economic status.”
Asserting its position against RIIN, the NSCN-IM stated that “this arbitrary and divisive policy of RIIN shall be resisted and disowned by all in consideration of the concept of ‘upholding the Naga indigenousness within the ancestral land, by one and all; great or small”.
The NSCN-IM also referenced the Framework Agreement signed with the GoI on August 3, 2015, declaring, “Nagas have entered into an Agreement with GOI… which clearly states that Naga Agreement shall provide an inclusive, enduring new relationship of peaceful coexistence of the two entities and not otherwise; not three nor four or greater.”
In it critique, the NSCN-IM cautioned against the categorization of Nagas, asserting, “the government of Nagaland (GoN) should not, at the behest of GoI classify Nagas into Classes of ‘the white Nagas,’ ‘the Black Nagas,’ ‘the great Nagas,’ or ‘the Small Nagas.’ It was not for such a classification of the Nagas that many hundred thousand were butchered, maimed, robbed of chastity, or villages burnt to the ground.”
The NSCN-IM expressed its discontent with the usage of “indigenousness,” stating, “the usage of indigenousness with the birth of the so-called Nagaland state (statehood) is a misnomer. Instead of Indigenous it should be defined as ‘Permanent Resident’ and ‘non-permanent resident’; and which should only be applicable to Non-Nagas.”
Furthermore, it made it clear that “adoption outside the Naga family shall not be allowed. Indigenousness of a Naga can only be defined by birth and blood through the lineage of the biological father and not otherwise.”
The Joint Council Meeting also held that any arbitrary decision on Naga issues affecting the essence of Naga Nationhood is unacceptable and shall be resisted accordingly. “Nagas have stood for the “INTEGRATION” of all the Naga contiguous land for nearly a century and NSCN/GPRN shall continue to pursue that path until its realization,” it added.
It also noted that move of GoI on “Free Movement Regime” by fencing “cutting across the Naga ancestral land is against Universal Human Right.”
Another agenda discussed in the meeting was regarding contractors and developmental works. ”
Contractors or firms are robbing the Naga people in carrying developmental projects by way of indulging in bidding below schedule rate of quotations. NSCN/GPRN cannot allow this to continue unchecked, because contracting firms bidding below the estimates to gain the work order inevitably compensate themselves and thereby compromise on the quality of the developmental work,” it said. Therefore, it was resolved that, henceforth, “no recommendation towards work order below the actual rate quoted in the tendered work shall be given out within Nagalim.”
Finally, on the Indo-Naga issue, the Joint Council Meeting resolved to “re-commit ourselves on the Framework Agreement of 3rd August 2015 singed between the GOI and NSCN/GPRN.”