Nagaland governor R.N. Ravi on Saturday said some people have tried to undermine the historical reality of the state and its unique constitutional status by using guns.
Greeting the people on the eve of 71st Republic Day, Ravi reminded those with guns that any attempt to subdue the people with fear is doomed to fail and bound to recoil.
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He urged them to read the “bold writings on the wall” and reformat themselves in tune with the reality before it is too late.
He reminded that violence has never succeeded and shall never succeed as power through the barrel of gun is a proven failed ideology.
“In a democratic India, the people are supreme. We resolve our differences through peaceful dialogue, not under the shadow of guns,” Ravi said.
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He recalled that Nagaland came into being as the 16th State of the Indian Union in 1963 through a peaceful political process between the people of Nagaland and the government of India.
Ravi said the Naga people pay their deepest homage and tribute to the leaders of the Naga Peoples’ Convention, who, under the most trying circumstances, displayed their extraordinary courage, political vision and strategic foresight and secured for the people the Nagaland state with special status sanctified under Article 371-A of the Constitution.
He added that the constitutional provision recognises the uniqueness of the Naga people and safeguards their identity and interests in the most befitting manner.
Ravi this auspicious Republic Day is also an occasion for the people of Nagaland to celebrate their uniqueness in the rising Republic of India.
He noted that the two evils of guns and corruption have taken “unacceptable toll” on the Naga people.
“When the rest of the country and even our neighbours in the Northeast are marching ahead to greater prosperity, we, in Nagaland are craving for basic needs like motorable roads, functioning of basic health centres, schools with qualified teachers.
“Our development projects, infrastructure projects, health and education projects, livelihood projects have suffered enormously by the twin evils,” he said.
He said when a mother in the throes of labour pain has to travel over 100 km on a “road-less road” to access the basic medical assistance and she, along with her baby, dies on road, the tragedy hits everyone with shock and shame.
“When for want of useful education and employment opportunities a young man turns to drugs, it jolts our conscience and robs our sleep,” Ravi said.
He said the political economy of guns and corruption is holding the present as well as future of the Naga people to ransom. It is a vice-like grip, a heinous crime, against the people, which is unacceptable, he said.
“The unholy alliance of the two has to be broken, it shall be broken and the two shall be eliminated. It is essential for building the New Nagaland,” Ravi stressed.
He said the new Nagaland has to be capable of successfully meeting the challenges of the modern world.
Saying that the Nagas are legendary warriors, Ravi said they have successfully met the challenges of the past.
However, he said, in an inter-connected world challenges are different.
Modern warriors are technologically powerful, he said adding that more than physical strength and courage, victory and success today are determined by how advanced people are in terms of modern technologies.
Ravi said the state government is committed to building a new Nagaland of “our dreams”, a Nagaland which will be in the front-rank of the states of the Indian Union.