Dr. Jamir asks media to play futuristic role

Staff Reporter DIMAPUR, NOV 17 (NPN) : Veteran Naga politician and recent Padma Bhushan awardee Dr. SC Jamir has urged upon the media in the state to focus attention towards the welfare of the common people by highlighting their problems instead of focussing mostly on speeches of politicians.

He called upon the media to remind people that they are living in 21stcentury and should prepare for 22nd century. “Nagas should have a forward-looking attitude, vision and thinking,” and therefore urged Nagas to script a new history.

The 90-year-old Dr. Jamir, the five-time chief minister of Nagaland and who had a prolonged stint as governor of Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Odisha from 2004 to 2018, and the only surviving member of the Naga People’s Convention (NPC) which negotiated the 16 Point Agreement with the government of India in 1960, also called for a harmonious relationship between the media and people.

Dr. Jamir was speaking as guest speaker on the occasion of National Press Day organised by DPC at DBIDL Hall here on Tuesday. He also urged upon the press to be messengers of truth, reality and unity among Naga people even as rapid advances in the field of science and technology have made today’s society “information society”.

He spoke of the role of Right To Information (RTI) Act that was paramount for society while reminding media about the Fundamental Rights (FR) enshrined in the Constitution of India.

Dr. Jamir however pointed out that certain restrictions were being put on these rights in the name of security, decency, morality. He noted “Though there is freedom of press and freedom of expression, there are areas where we cannot go beyond.”

He also maintained that even though democracy provided citizens freedom and rights, these had to be complemented with certain obligation and responsibilities. He said unlimited freedom of speech and expression could become dangerous beyond a particular point.

On his vision for Nagaland, Dr. Jamir held the belief that Nagas were living in a confused world. He explained that the peculiar feature of Nagaland was that “Though we speak about advancement in science and technology, Nagas are too much obsessed with the past.”

Dr. Jamir also pointed out that Nagas generally only talk of politics and completely neglecting economic development, social reformation and cultural enlightenment. He said there was need to move away from this trend.

He also mentioned that Nagas have two identities- a Naga identity and Christian identity. According to Dr. Jamir Naga identity was manifest in honesty, courage, bravery and endurance, while Christian identity was manifest in love, peace, goodwill and harmony.

He felt that God had given Nagas opportunities but because of “our negative approach to everything, we are not able to grab it”. He emphasised that Naga negativism should now pave its way for positivity.

On the Naga political issue, Dr. Jamir urged upon people to be grateful to underground leaders for signing agreements with the government of India. He opined that decades of negotiations had exposed the Naga leaders to present situation for which they have come to terms with realities of contemporary politics and economy.

He said these leaders, in all their wisdom, accepted the reality of India and Naga society, position of India and geo-political international affairs, agreed to sign the Framework Agreement and Agreed Position.

He said as Nagaland is part and parcel of India, “our system has to be regulated according to the Constitution of India”.

Dr. Jamir also noted that neither the Framework Agreement nor the Agreed Position made any mention of sovereignty or integration and which indicated that the leaders of NPGs recognised and realised the contemporary political situation.

Since negotiating sides-government of India and NPGs had signed the agreements in the best interest of the people of Nagaland, Dr. Jamir urged upon Nagas to “explicitly” express their support to the agreements and share burden of the underground leaders.

Taking a dig at the “VIP culture in Nagaland”, Dr. Jamir commented that Nagaland was a land of Presidents, Prime Ministers, Commanders in-Chief, etc.

He made a strong appeal to Nagas to wake up, see the reality and march hand in hand with people in rest of the country and make Nagaland a model State.

The programme was chaired by Akangjungla, while welcome address was delivered by Dimapur Press Club (DPC) vice-president Temjen Anichar and vote of thanks delivered by Dilip Sharma.

Obituary references were made for five DPC members–senior journalists K Filip Sumi, photojournalist Soreishim Mahong, proprietor and former editor of Nagamese Khobor Lemei Phom, Ramnava Sengupta and Tilak Kumar Pradhan.

Among others, Commissioner of Police RhothihuTetseo also attended the programme.

16-Point Agreement not a hurdle: Jamir
The oldest living veteran Naga politician Dr SC Jamir reiterated that 16-Point Agreement was not a hurdle in the resolution of Naga problem.
He said this while interacting with media at DBIDL Hall here on Tuesday on the occasion of National Press Day. Dr. Jamir said “We are already a part of Constitution of India due to the 16-Point Agreement” and underlined that the Government of India (GoI) had agreed to hold further negotiations to resolve the Naga political problem.
Dr. Jamir said if at all the 16-Point Agreement was a hurdle, then the government of India would have refused to negotiate for solution to the Naga issue.
He also narrated the chronology of events that ultimately led to creation of Nagaland. Jamir recalled that a draft was placed before representatives of 16 tribes at the third Naga National Convention held at Mokokchung in 1959.
After five days of discussion, he said a unanimous resolution was passed wherein it was agreed to negotiate with the government of India and the outcome was the creation of Nagaland on the basis of 16-Point Agreement.
Asked what would be solution the Nagas and whether they should leave the demand for sovereignty, Jamir said that neither the Framework Agreement of August 3, 2015 nor the Agreed Position of November 17, 2017 made any mention of sovereignty or integration.
He remarked that those who were fighting for sovereignty and integration had perhaps realised that sovereignty was not possible under the present political context and hence signed the agreements without any mention of sovereignty.
He also referred to the meeting of leaders of all Naga political groups held at Agri Expo on February 29, 2012 wherein late ‘gen.’ Khole Konyak had in his speech said: “Mr. Muivah is honest and courageous. He told us that because of International situation, Independence is not possible. Because of the policy of Indian and Myanmar government integration is also not possible”.

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