Rh Raising of NSCN (I-M) asserted that claiming citizenship of a country with forged documents from “fraudsters” is a crime against the state. “Planting foreign populations in an occupied territory of a native people for marginalising the native people is equally an act of colonialism”, he adds.
TFM Desk
Launching a political movement by a group of “refugees or immigrants for a separate homeland or a separate state in other people’s country is an act of aggression” on the inherent right of the native people and their land. This was stated by National Socialist Council of Nagalim or the NSCN (I-M) Collective Leadership represented by Rh Raising.
In a written statement, Rh Raising said that a “people cannot imagine of politics without land. Refugees, nomadic people and immigrants do not have politics of their own. Of course, they may be granted members of a political community or citizenship of a country they migrated to. But launching a political movement by a group of refugees or immigrants for a separate homeland or a separate state in other people’s country is an act of aggression on the inherent right of the native people and their land. Claiming citizenship of a country with forgery documents from fraudsters is a crime against the state. Planting foreign populations in an occupied territory of a native people for marginalising the native people is equally an act of colonialism and expansionism to be condemned”.
Rh Raising asserted that “land and water are the foundations of history and politics of a people and their sovereign nation-states. All the village-states, the city-states and nation-states of the peoples and nations were built on the foundation of their respective lands. A national territory and water are the arch-pillars of a nation-state. As people and land are inseparable so also people and water are. We know people do not hesitate even to sacrifice their lives for their country when it is challenged by the aggressors. Sacrificing life for one’s own country is an adored nationalism. All wars in history were fought over land and water”. He said that the first and the second world wars were fought among the imperialist powers over the land and water of other nations with colonial motive. But ultimately, they faced crushing defeats in the hands of the revolutionary nationalist forces of the native peoples. The policy of expansionism and colonialism is a thing of the past already condemned and buried by the world today. And that any state or country that tries to exhume the corpse of colonialism will certainly face the judgement of history”, said the member of the NSCN (I-M)’s collective leadership.
“We cannot imagine of creating a nation-state without land. The history of a people or a nation is naturally rooted in their land. Land is the foundation of a state. The politics of a people is founded in the solid ground of land and history. Politics is naturally about the creation of a nation-state, governance of a state, protection of a state, defending the right and freedom of a people. It is about the sovereign power to determine the future of a people by themselves. Can a people imagine of creating a kingdom without land? Can they build a house without a foundation? I don’t think so”, opined Rh Raising.
He said that Land is the centre of a nationhood. And tland and a people are inseparable; land and the history of a people are inseparable; land and the politics of a people are inseparable; land and the freedom of a people are inseparable; land and the sovereign right of a people are inseparable; land and the culture of a people are inseparable; land and the identity of a people are inseparable; land and the God of a people are inseparable”.
He also asserted that the Naga people have their own land – Nagalim which is home to millions of Nagas, “who have been living here for thousands of years and they will continue to live here for thousands more years to come. We are born here, we will live here and we will die here. Our land and water are integral parts of our nationhood”.
Rh Raising pointed out that Nagalim is the soul of Naga nationhood. “The day we stop defending it and the day it is sold out or murdered, we will definitely become a lost people. Therefore, it is the sacred duty of each and every Naga to defend Nagalim from all aggressors and make this hilly country a land of milk and honey. This is the sovereign will of God of the Nagas”, he said.
He said Nagas cannot afford to make mistake in the negotiating table. “If we make mistake, everything of us will fall. If the issue is murdered, our land will be possessed by the aggressors; our people will become their subjects and our children will be assimilated. The invaders will rewrite our history. Our identity and culture, our songs and language, our geography and political concept and our laws will be totally changed. The good name of the Naga nation will be deleted from the pages of history if we do not stand firm”, he added.
“The prolonged negotiations and delayed solution has negative impact on the psychology of the weaker sections of the Nagas. It is known to all that the Government of India is deliberately playing attrition politics vis-a-vis the Indo-Naga peace process. We must not succumb to its diabolic policy. But our people sitting on the fence are very judgemental. They used to praise the works of the aggressors, but they are blind to the achievements of their own people. It is good to know – who are our people and who are our enemies; who are on our side and who are on the side of the enemies”, Rh Raising stated.