Naga Hoho – The Babbling brook of Nagaland
On various other instances, the Naga Hoho has been criticized by the NNPGs, 14 apex tribes, Gaon Burha federation etc and has no support and respect whatsoever in the eyes of its contemporaries.
The author through this article, attempts to reveal the non-credibility of Naga Hoho and NSCN-IM. She has based her arguments on the statements made against the said organizations by their Contemporaries.
There is a famous saying “a shallow brook babbles the loudest”. This saying, can be more than a hundred percent applicable to the state of Nagaland if one pays a close look at the on goings of the state in the past few months.
NSCN-IM is an insurgent, militant outfit active in Nagaland, which has given rise to insurgency throughout Northeast. To make their work easier and more seamless, the outfit uses some puppet organizations to make their over ground presence felt and marked. Some of these organizations include Naga Hoho and Naga Mother’s association which have zero support from the people of Nagaland and this statement , is not a mere figment of imagination, but subsequent proof will meet eyes of the reader in this article.
For decades, the Nagas have been suffering, sometimes due to internal hunger for power and politics that gave rise to organizations like Naga national council led by A Z Phizo (who has been responsible for starting the entire turmoil of separationist movements in the region), sometimes because of foreign funded militancy in the form of NSCN-IM and sometimes due to the inability of the previous governments to make an impactful move and arise on a solution that guarantees lasting peace.
But ultimately, when the BJP led government at the center took a stern, strong and steadfast step towards hopefully permanently resolving the issue, there are miscreants that are hell bent at leaving no stone unturned to ensure that efforts upon efforts are tossed to a political dustbin, people are misled and their anti-development, selfish agenda keeps feeding on this artificially created rift!
On 12th August, a delegation of Naga Hoho met Union minister Jitendra Singh (Minister of State for PMO & MDONER) and urged for an early conclusion of talks with NSCN-IM. To clear out the basics, Naga Hoho claims to be an apex body of the Naga tribes, while in reality it is a meek puppet in the hands of insurgent outfit National socialist council of Nagalim (Isak- Muivah) (NSCN-IM) which has been involved with the central government in the ongoing peace talks along with Naga National political Groups (NNPGs).
While the Naga Hoho claims to be an apex body of Naga tribes, a statement was made by the 14 separate Hohos of the Naga communities alleging the Naga Hoho of creating disturbance and blockades in the peace talk and the statement clarifies that “any matter that involves or concerns the nagas of Nagaland, should be routed by the 14 tribes of Nagaland. Any decision taken by the Naga Hoho or any other organization on our behalf will not be honored.” This makes it crystal clear that the 14 tribes of Nagaland are upset with this move of Naga Hoho and have specified in the same release that 80% of Nagas live in Nagaland, where the apex body of each tribe has rejected the Naga Hoho!
This is not it! Suddenly, the NSCN-IM along with Naga Hoho raised a demand of replacing the Interlocutor of the peace talks Sh, R N Ravi, blaming him of mishandling the situation and not respecting the Naga sentiment. In reaction to which, a press release was made on 11th August 2020 saying; “The 14 Apex Tribal Hohos of Nagaland record our sincere appreciation to the Interlocutor of the Government of India Mr. R.N. Ravi and the Naga negotiators for their magnanimity and dedicated engagement towards bringing lasting peace through an inclusive solution. We also appeal to the negotiators to stand committed to the cause and deliver the long awaited solution to the people”. In addition to the 14 apex tribal Hohos, the working committee of the NNPG, a conglomerate of seven organizations, said they are hopeful that with Sh Ravi holding the reins, an acceptable and honorable political solution could be forged to resolve the issue, and rejected the recent suggestion of Naga Hoho, to replace him.
The reason to this demand of replacing the center’s interlocutor is simpler than ‘two plus two equals four. In June, Sh Ravi had written an elaborate letter to the government of Nagaland expressing concern over the abysmal condition of law and order in the state, holding NSCN-IM and its extortion programs responsible for the deplorable condition. The NSCN-IM has been shook by this string and straightforward move and in the fear of being completely exposed, are now trying tooth and nail to create distractions and hide their wrong doings from the public.
The Naga Hoho, while claims to be the apex body, certainly does not hold any confidence among the people as in March 2020, the working committee of the NNPG clearly stated that a peace solution can be agreed upon with the presence and involvement of Naga Hoho or even NSCN-IM.
On various other instances, the Naga Hoho has been criticized by the NNPGs, 14 apex tribes, Gaon Burha federation etc and has no support and respect whatsoever in the eyes of its contemporaries.
Desperate moves are being made to create a façade that they are still powerful and influential by creating a hue and cry around a mockery in the name of Independence day on 14th August, or coming up with new organizations like ‘Global Naga forum’. They have zero credibility and zero support and it is immensely evident that these organizations are only creating chaos and hungry to stay in power; to harass and extort the people of Nagaland who are looking at the current government with hope and faith but the so-called flagbearers of Naga tribes are only casting their greedy shadows upon the sunshine of a common man.
(Anandita Singh is a Research Scholar at Centre for North East Studies, New Delhi)