Legalising the Illegal
(an effort)

By Geoffery *

No one can play with the spirit of masses. It's more applicable in a democratic set up like ours. Of late NSCN (IM) had been the cause of needless tension in the region. And this is due to illegal acts that the outfit wants to legalize with the power of gun.

Probably the outfit is fed up of staying in jungles and is rushing to populated areas resulting in stress, fear and uncertainty in the minds of the people there.

Efforts of the outfit in Nagaland have failed and people have replied in the language it understands. Despite wielding of sophisticated weapons, the cadres were chased away by the unarmed people (of Phek) with whatever they had i.e. Dah, Sickles, Lathi etc.

Peaceful uprising of the people in terms of observing black day, rallies etc against killings of innocents like Konyak Youths , Inato Sumi(4), Hoveto, Hurbert (10) & Martin(12) etc in 2007 has also conveyed a message to the outfit. Tribes like Chakhesang People's Organisation had sternly warned the cadres against causing disturbance in their lives.

The people seem to have understood that the outfit is acting more colonial against the other Naga tribes for its own gain. There is a need to understand meaning of the word colonial, which is an adjective of the word colony meaning a country or area under the political control of another country and occupied by settlers from that country.

The outfit is engaged in number of illegal activities i.e. extortion, kidnapping, procurement of arms, inter factional killing in populated areas, collection of illegal taxes, training other outfits for consideration, illegal occupation of land of other tribes ( Jalukie incident) etc. under the cover of cease fire agreement with the Government of India. All these activities are in violation of ceasefire ground rules (CFGR) as the author knows.

Now the outfit is heading towards Manipur. Least has it realised that spirit of Manipuris against illegal activities is no less. The spirit of June up rise in 2001 against extension of ceasefire (with Nagas) without territorial limits is still alive. 18 Jun is observed as a "Unity Day" in Manipur. On that day 18 Manipuris (aged 15 to 46) lost their precious lives braving the curfew. The sacrifice of the people will not go waste.

Recent effort to establish a camp in Ukhrul district has also not succeeded, which was attempted by the outfit in 2007 also. As far as the author knows the areas of the camp have been well defined and the cadres are not supposed to establish new camps, recruit new cadres, train other outfits etc. But effort is being made for every thing proscribed, hoping that it will be accepted with the passage of time.

The effort of the outfit to establish a camp in Ukhrul has not succeeded due to the joint pressure of people's WILL and action of security forces. Women folk of Siroy and adjoining villages such as Langdang, Choithar and Lunghar have been sitting on vigil 24 hours a day, interspersed with prayers, to keep a watch in case the clash breaks out between the outfit and SF.

Head man of village Sirohi Wungachan Shangh when asked whether he had been given any written document signed between NSCN (IM) and Government of India replied in Negative (The Sangai Express 23 Jan 09).

People of the village had made separate appeals to Prime Minister of India, Local Headquarters of security forces and also the hierarchy of the outfit. Meanwhile civil society organization like Tangkhul Naga Long, Tangkhul Youth council and Tangkhul women association took out a rally in Ukhrul calling for means to easing tensions between two sides.

One of the society leaders on condition of anonymity said, "the civil societies would not have intervened had the tension been in some isolated places like in jungles, but since the present tension is taking place in a village, we believe that the villagers would be ultimate victims (The Morung Express datelined 23 Jan 09) .

It is a strong message, the people have given to the outfits that they can not mislead them by using words like colonial, imperialist etc and interfere in their peaceful lives.

They have also given a message that SFs are official instrument to ensure that CFGR are observed but we are no less in ensuring that the spirit of our peaceful living is not interfered by vested interests. This is a very potent message, "It is no good to cry peace; we must act peace, live peace and live in peace".