The Naga Hoho on Wednesday said the statement of Nagaland BJP president and minister Imna Along that “Nagas are Indians and Nagas are proud to be part of this great country” should be censured.
Drawing attention to Along’s statement, which was published in local dailies on May 6 and widely circulated in the social media, the Naga Hoho, in a release, said in its considered opinion, the statement should be censured, “if not, posterity would blame us”.
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“Over and above, we would be doing injustice to the thousands of Naga martyrs, who have laid down their lives for the cause of sovereign Naga nation.
“It is also impudence to the rest of the Naga nationalist who are still alive and striving with the best of their ability to bring an honorable political solution to the Indo-Naga political issue,” it stated.
According to Naga Hoho, this very statement of Along cannot be the voice of the entire Naga people.
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Though Along’s statement “actually requires” a very long and detailed reply by narrating the whole Naga history, the Naga Hoho said it “compressed” the reply by quoting Mahatma Gandhi’s statement “Nagas have every right to be Independent”.
The Naga Hoho also took serious note of the recent standoff between the Assam Rifles and the NSCN/GPRN at Sihai in Ukhrul district of Manipur.
It accused the Assam Rifles of provoking the situation of peaceful coexistence from time to time when people are yearning for peace.
“Chasing out the Nagas from their own homeland and burning down their camps will not bring peaceful solution,” it said.
The Naga Hoho said the ongoing peace process would collapse if such “provocative attitudes” are continued by the Assam Rifles.
It urged both the Assam Rifles and the NNPGs to restrain from provoking each other till during Indo-Naga ceasefire period.