Kohima, Jan. 4 : Naga militant groups have sent out messages of hope, peace and unity among Nagas in the New Year.
“I hope 2011 is the year of salvation for the Nagas. Let us rise and move forward together towards our common future and never look back,” Rh. Raising, kilo kilonser (home minister) of the NSCN (Isak-Muivah) said in a New Year message to the people.
S. Singnya, the president of the Federal Government of Nagaland (FGN-S), called for a collective effort towards Naga reconciliation.
“After several rounds of reconciliation meets and the declaration of unconditional unity, I strongly believe that the present peaceful Naga society will never again be called a fratricidal society, regardless of the past. The Naga society is now genuinely and swiftly moving in the right direction,” he said.
“I appeal to all sections of the Naga society to pray for oneness and fulfilment. Let 2011 be a year of important events in our history,” he added.
Singnya said society moves forward when the mindset of the people is regenerated and revived through revolution. “Our political compass tells us to look forward, for our future lies there. All free people are forward-looking people and all great men of the world are forward-looking people,” he said.
Adinno Phizo, the president of the Naga National Council, Adinno faction (NNC-A), said in a message, “Together let us look forward to a happy New Year in 2011.”
Without mentioning any group, she said the Naga society, which was peaceful and harmonious not too far in the past because of the unspoken tradition of trust and respect between people, had recently been maligned and destabilised by “self-appointed sectarian groups under the cover of fatuous pretensions”. The NNC (A) and NSCN (I-M) have a history of bad blood.
The NNC (A) does not want the Nagas of Manipur to interfere in the political issues of Nagaland even though it was her father, A.Z. Phizo, who had sowed the seed of Naga nationalism among the Nagas in Manipur. The NNC (A) also has few Naga members from Manipur.