“Significantly, it is for the Government of India to put its acts together and get back the lost ground. The ball is, therefore, in the court of India”, stated Q Tuccu.
TFM Report
Absurdity of the situation regarding Indo-Naga political talks is “entirely the making of the Government of India as its commitment to the Framework Agreement turned unsavoury with each passing days. All the way it is only ‘all bluff and bluster’. No seriousness!”.
This was stated by Q Tuccu, the Yaruiwo (President) of National Socialist Council of Nagalim or the NSCN (I-M) on the occasion of its 44th Republic Day of GPRN on Tuesday.
Speaking on the occasion, Q Tuccu said that this lack of seriousness has led to a situation where the “Government of India is planning clandestinely to strike the Nagas with all its state machinery. Thus, there is trust deficit on the part of the Government of India”.
He stated that the 44th Republic Day is commemorated to remember the glory of Naga history and “the national decision our people” to free ourselves from the “yoke of oppressors and govern our country by ourselves.”
Recalling the declaration of Naga National Independence Day on August 14, 1947, Q Tuccu said that India had responded with “the most brutal unruly armed forces never seen anywhere in the civilized world. But we stayed the course upholding our rights. The world at large is the living witness to the horrible military oppressions and the political plight in Nagalim.”
Paying homage to great Naga leaders who have laid down the political foundation and had shown the “national salvation line”, Tuccu called them “pillars of our freedom movement and the pioneers of our Naga nation. They made the Naga people understand their inherent sovereign right which is the source of their political inspiration. We will never betray them and the cause dear to the Naga people, but cherish them always in our hearts and minds”.
He said that in 1997, the ceasefire agreement between the National Socialist Council of Nagalim and the Government of India was signed to prepare the ground for principle-based negotiations and solution. “We took the pain and patience in explaining the unique Naga history and the truth of our national issue to the Government of India. It took us five years to make the authorities of India understand on the Naga issue and get the unique history of the Nagas recognized by the Government of India in the year 2002. This is a milestone achievement in the Indo-Naga political talks. It took us another 13 years of gruelling negotiations which has resulted in signing the historic Framework Agreement on the 3 August, 2015”, said Tuccu.
The Yaruiwo stated that the Naga political identity as a sovereign people is well recognized and protected by the Framework Agreement. But in the years that followed, the “Government of India started to fiddle with what has been agreed upon. Today the fate of the Framework Agreement hangs in balance as the commitment of the Government of India fluctuates wildly every now and then”, he alleged.
Tuccu further stated that the world at large is keenly watching how India handles the Framework Agreement because it has something to do with the “high sounding speech of the Indian Prime Minister Mr.Narendra Modi and how he proclaimed before the world that he had solved the longest insurgency problem in Southeast Asia”.
However, the hard fact remains that the politics of “hypocrisy and flattery” is raising its ugly heads again as the “Government of India is only looking for an escape route to dilute the political significance of the Framework Agreement”, stated Tuccu.
“We have made our stand very loud and clear to the Government of India on the issue of the Naga flag and constitution which are indispensable and inviolable parts of the recognized sovereignty and unique history of the Nagas. And the way to handle any situation that might arise has been well defined in no uncertain term during the May 31, 2022 Emergency National Assembly when we took the stand before God and before the Naga people that NSCN will uphold and protect the unique Naga history and the Naga National principle at any cost. We are now simply waiting how the Government of India will pick up the threads of the Indo-Naga political talks with correct narrative and not for its own convenience”, said the Yaruiwo.
He asked, “What is to be done in the event of failure of talks? We have to work out survival strategy. We must live and that this final show down must be a battle to decide our future. The fight is going to be tough, but it is to be noted that ours is not a contest of strength, it is a matter of right and wrong, just and unjust. Therefore, the truth shall triumph in the long run”.
Tuccu stated that notwithstanding the callous manner of handling the Naga issue by the Government of India, the NSCN (I-M) has carried the talks forward with total commitment and conviction, “because no sacrifice is too great when it comes to defending the historical and political rights of the Nagas. Let us therefore keep our spirits high and never allow despair to overcome us, because the deciding factor for solution is in our total faith in the sovereign God and our national issue”.
“Significantly, it is for the Government of India to put its acts together and get back the lost ground. The ball is, therefore, in the court of India”, stated Q Tuccu.