UKHRUL: Divided by 'artificial boundaries', the Nagas from across Northeast and Myanmar came together for an event in the remote Ukhrul district of Manipur on Sunday.
Participating in the ongoing platinum jubilee celebration of tribal organisation Zingtun Tangkhul Katamnao Long at Talui village in Tangkhul Naga-majority Ukhrul, they reaffirmed their singular vision of the oneness of the various Naga tribes.
Talui is 16 km from Somdal, the birthplace of National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN-IM) leader Thuingaleng Muivah. Incidentally, the outfit also envisages a unified Naga homeland and is bargaining hard with the Centre.
The Nagas have a sizeable population in Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Myanmar.
Apart from Nokpai Chonglymn who is the president of Myanmar-based Eastern Naga Students’ Association (ENSA), around a dozen others from the country’s Sagaing division took the trouble to travel miles on dusty and bumpy roads to reach Talui. Some others could not do so due to security-related reasons.
“We still have a dream and hope that one day we will be together. The Nagas living in Myanmar are still in darkness,” Chonglymn told this newspaper.
There are nine officially-recognised Naga tribes in Myanmar. The people are settled along the border with Arunachal, Nagaland and Manipur.
“The Nagas in Myanmar are a neglected lot. We are surviving on one square meal. Thousands of us travel to different parts of Naga-inhabited areas to receive better education,” Chonglymn added.
Rego Shonsei, advisor to ENSA, said the problems of the Nagas in Myanmar compounded following the coup by the country’s military in February last year.
He said the Nagas did not participate in the civil disobedience movement in Myanmar but they were mentally, psychologically and emotionally with the people of the country.
He had no doubt the convergence of the Nagas at Talui would strengthen their relationship. “Our desire is that the Nagas live together as one family,” Shonsei, who hails from Chamkock village in Myanmar, said.
Changpoh SV, a Tangkhul Naga who hails from Phungtret village in Myanmar, agreed such convergence would go a long way toward Naga unity.
“There are 32 Tangkhul villages in Myanmar and we are roughly around 35% of the Tangkhul population irrespective of borders. This gathering gave me an opportunity to meet and know fellow Nagas from different parts of Northeast and Myanmar,” Changpoh, who is the general secretary of Tangkhul Naga Cultural and Literary Society, said.
Speaking at the event, jubilee committee convenor AC Thotso stressed the Nagas would need to work in solidarity in order to be able to achieve their dreams.
“The presence of our leaders from across (interstate and international) borders reinvigorated us. The artificial boundaries cannot stop us from coming together, moving together, sharing together and working together to achieve our dreams,” he said.
Epchan PA, who is ZTKL president, was happy that the Nagas from different areas got a chance to know one another.
“We are all Nagas but we never came together like this. The jubilee gave us an opportunity to meet and know one another,” he said.
NSCN-IM leader VS Atem, who was born at Talui, attended the event as chief guest. S Kho John, president of United Naga Council which is Manipur’s apex Naga organisation, also spoke.