Unification of Land in Naga Context

October 28, 2017 690 Views No Comment

Recognizing that no one can claim to have monopoly of insights, the existing objective realities demands that our minds be broadened, so as to imagine all that we have not dared to imagine. Furthermore, knowing fully well that any movement reflects the image of humanity: imperfect, frail and real; it becomes imperative for Nagas to reason and transcend together from the fear of disillusionment and to emerge out of the frozen images and replace it with the present realities that calls out for the liberation of the human mind and spirit. Based on such reasoning we must critically analyze the concrete situation of our historical, geographical and political realities.

The history of the Naga Movement is closely interrelated to the idea of a peoples’ self-determining capacity to exercise its sovereign will. Hence, for the effective realization of the unification of Naga Homeland, it is imperative for us to interrogate and overcome the myths surrounding the questions around State Territorial Integrity and State Sovereignty. In essence, the struggle for Naga rights must be located within the larger struggle for humanization which has at its center, the right to self-determination.

A Word on Self-Determination[1]:

Self-determination, according to Anaya is the principle of the highest order, which is derived from the philosophical affirmation of the human drive to translate aspirations into reality, together with inherent equality.[2] By this, we understand that the praxis of self-determination involves an ongoing process where people take effective participation in decision-making processes, assume full ownership over their land and natural resources and take upon themselves the responsibility to determine their social, economic,[3] cultural and political destinies. The systems of government, institutions and forms of governance should hence be devised to reflect and facilitate the aspirations of the people. Independence therefore, is not an end but the means by which the people pursue their collective aspirations based on what they know is best for them.

The concept of self-determination as a “right” was broadly defined and established by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 1514 (XV) Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples in 1960 and further affirmed by the United Nations International Covenant on Human Rights in 1966 which reads as:

“All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.”

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