The Working Committee, NNPGs has stated that “Naga Apex Tribal Bodies must avoid selective amnesia at this juncture of Naga history,” asserting that many narrative gaps have emerged in recent years.
According to the statement, most apex Naga tribal Hohos have “presidency tenures of about two years only,” while “from the Autumn of 2015 to 2022, the FNR had locked its shop and threw away the keys.” During this period, the Committee noted that tribal Hohos and NNPG leaders had “met extensively during 2016–19 and voluntarily signed and issued various joint statements… as crucial stakeholders in the Naga political issue.” These documents, it said, “remain relevant to the Indo-Naga political context.”
WC, NNPGs described the Agreed Position of 17 November 2017 as “a powerful political milestone achieved after ceaseless consultation among WC, NNPGs and Apex Naga tribal Hohos, churches, prayer groups and Village custodians.” It added that the document was “a refined political thought process offering a peek into delicate political craftsmanship… set into motion years and months before the actual signing.”
The Committee recalled that “numerous Invitations and robust conclaves with apex Naga tribal hohos, Naga civil societies from Nagaland, Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh were organized as the need for practical Indo-Naga political solution became inevitable.” It said the core issue remained that the Government of India “must respect Naga history and identity while Nagas would understanding the practical difficulties of the Government of India.”
It stated that when the Government of India invited the WC, NNPGs for official talks in October 2017, “the Naga delegation adopted a calm political position without being belligerent, pompous, rhetorical, overtly passionate or indulge in storytelling on sentimental issues.” The negotiations, it said, “entrenched Naga history and identity because it is a pre-independent India question for which solution must be honorable and acceptable.”
“All agreed points,” it added, “were noted, put into papers and officially shared between entities.”
The statement also said that the engagement was necessary due to “many recent historical inconsistencies and distortions creeping into Naga historical perspectives,” which were not acknowledged by the Government of India nor accessible to the Naga public.
It criticized the NSCN (IM)’s conduct around the Framework Agreement, saying that “on the eve of and post the signing of FA of 3rd Aug 2015, the NSCN (IM) abruptly cut off all communication lines with the FNR, Naga political groups, Apex Tribal bodies, GBs and other CSOs,” leaving Nagas “in the dark about their own political future.”
The Committee pointed out that “no single representative of the Church or Apex Naga tribal representative or Civil Society member was visible when FA was signed,” and that “that night, not a single candle was lit in Nagaland,” while Nagas in Manipur held a candlelight program. “Very soon the GOI realized the soul and spirit of the Naga political movement was absent from the ceremony,” it stated.
Highlighting current socio-economic challenges, the WC, NNPGs said, “It is not a time to self-garland, indulge in philosophy, sentimental browbeating or pursue metaphysical exercises when fifty thousand Naga boys and girls are coming home with bachelor’s or master’s degrees each year.” It added that young Nagas “know exactly what Naga history is” and “know which Naga leaders are playing with their futures.”
The group underscored the reality that “Naga Integration, both geography and population, is not possible at this time,” and that Nagas would continue to coexist with neighboring communities including “Meiteis, Kukis, Mizos, Ahoms, Arunachalis.”
It recalled that during the 2017 negotiations, both sides acknowledged the Nagas’ right to self-determination “in consonant with their distinct history and identity,” while also recognizing, “‘…with due regard to contemporary political realities’,” which the Committee described as the second pillar of the Agreed Position.