By Michael Meiphami Shaiza
Truth that can’t be voted away
There is a principle older than constitutions and higher than borders: a people have the right to name themselves.
No foreign hand, no outsider’s pen, no distant parliament can decide for the Naga what it means to be Naga.
Non-Nagas cannot decide Naga peoplehood.
Non-Nagas cannot decide Naga nationhood.
Non-Nagas cannot decide the full sovereign destiny of the Naga Nation.
This is not arrogance. This is not rebellion for its own sake.
This is the basic human, organizational, and legitimate God-given vision for the Naga as a nation.
It was spoken in the hills long before maps were drawn. It was written in petitions. It was sealed in plebiscite. It was carried to the highest tables of power.
And it remains. Unbroken. Unfinished. Unforgotten.
Historical milestones that speak
Retrospectively and politically, the Naga claim is not a sudden cry. It is a continuous witness.
- The Naga Club Memorandum of 1929
When India was still under colonial rule, the Naga Club walked into the Simon Commission and spoke with clarity: “Leave us alone to determine our future.” - This was not a request for favors. It was a declaration. The Nagas were a distinct people, with distinct customs, distinct land, and distinct political life. We did not ask to be included. We asked to be recognized as separate.
- The Plebiscite of 1951
In 1951, under the banner of the Naga National Council, the Naga people went to the villages and asked the most democratic question possible: Do you want to be part of India? - The answer came back from the hills, the valleys, and the hearts of the people: No.
That plebiscite was not perfect in form, but it was perfect in substance. It was the voice of a people speaking as one. - The NNC Talks at the Prime Minister’s Level till 1964
- From 1952 to 1964, Naga leaders sat with Prime Ministers of India. They spoke of peace, but also of principle. The core demand was never altered: India must leave the Naga free.
These were not tribal petitions. These were nation-to-nation conversations. - The Ceasefire, Framework Agreement of 3rd August 2015 and Agreed Position of 17th November 2017
After decades of conflict, a ceasefire was entered into with the Government of India. Following this, the NSCN-IM/GPRN signed the Framework Agreement with the Government of India on 3rd August 2015, acknowledging the unique history and situation of the Nagas. - Thereafter, the combined Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs) signed the Agreed Position with the Government of India on 17th November 2017.
These agreements stand as further political recognition that the Naga issue is political and must be resolved with the Naga people themselves.
These milestones — 1929, 1951, 1964, 3rd August 2015, and 17th November 2017 — are not footnotes. They are the foundation stones of Naga political identity.
Whatever foreigners say. Whatever enemies say.
The Naga has the final say.
Biblical, moral foundation
Biblically and morally, God is a God of nations and of boundaries.
“He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live” Acts 17:26.
He gave Israel twelve tribes with twelve inheritances. He told Israel to remember the “ancient boundary stones” Proverbs 22:28.
For the Naga, the hills are that inheritance. The village is that covenant. The customary law is that stewardship.
To deny a people the right to live as a people is to deny the Creator’s design.
To call that denial “integration” or “development” does not make it just.
Justice, intelligently and virtuously understood, begins with recognition: You are a people. You have a name. You have a land. You have a right to decide.
Political, democratic nationalistic imperative
Politically and democratically, sovereignty begins with self.
No democracy can be real if it is imposed. No unity can be real if it is coerced.
The Naga demand for a full sovereign nation is not born of hatred. It is born of memory.
Memory of village republics that governed themselves for centuries.
Memory of treaties made as equals.
Memory of a plebiscite where the people spoke.
Nationalistically, this is the highest patriotism: to love your people enough to want them to live, to govern, to thrive as themselves.
To say “we are Naga” is not to reject others. It is to affirm ourselves.
And prudently, we must state: a house built on denial will always crack.
A peace built on suppression will always shake.
Only a peace built on truth, on recognition, on the free will of the Naga people, will stand.
Social, emotional reality
Socially and emotionally, peoplehood is not a paper. It is a heartbeat.
It is the dialect sung at the hearth.
It is the morung, the festival, the shared story of migration and war and survival.
It is knowing which ancestor is buried on which slope.
To tell the Naga “you are not a nation” is to tell the child “your grandfather’s name does not matter.”
That is why the wound is deep. That is why the resolve is strong.
We welcome neighbors. We trade. We pray. We build bridges.
But hospitality is not surrender.
Love is not erasure.
Intellectual, insightful answer to the world
Insightfully and powerfully, let the world hear:
What outsiders say about the Naga Nation does not create it, and cannot destroy it.
Nations are not made by approval. They are made by people who know who they are.
The Naga Nation was a reality before 1947.
It expressed itself in 1929.
It confirmed itself in 1951.
It negotiated as a nation in 1964.
It signed the Framework Agreement and Agreed Position in 2015 and 2017 respectively.
That is historically, politically, and morally sufficient.
Tremendously, magnificently, the Naga people carry within them the organizational capacity, the moral authority, and the democratic legitimacy to decide their own future.
Prayer, patriotic resolve
Prayerfully, we cry: Lord of Hosts, who set nations in their places,
Grant our leaders the wisdom of Solomon, the courage of Nehemiah, the steadfastness of Moses.
Guard our youth from despair. Guard our elders from weariness.
Let no fear, no bribe, no division break what You have joined.
Patriotically and nationalistically we declare:
This land was tilled by our fathers, defended by our mothers’ prayers, watered by the blood of those who believed.
We do not seek dominion over others. We seek the right to be ourselves.
To Our Leaders: Speak with one voice. Negotiate with clarity. Do not trade the inheritance for temporary comfort.
To Our Youth: Know your history. Learn your languages. Build your economy. Stay, and build the nation.
To Our People: Stand united across tribes. Ao, Angami, Lotha, Sumi, Tangkhul, Konyak, Chakhesang, and all — the tapestry is stronger together.
Conclusion
Awesomely and beautifully, history has already spoken.
The Naga Club spoke in 1929.
The people spoke in 1951.
The leaders spoke at the Prime Minister’s table till 1964.
The Framework Agreement was signed on 3rd August 2015.
The Agreed Position was signed on 17th November 2017.
Whatever is said today by foreigners or enemies does not matter.
What matters is what the Naga says tomorrow.
We are not asking for permission to exist.
We are asserting the right to live as God made us: a people, on our land, with our name.
So let it be written. Let it be known.
The final say on Naga peoplehood and Naga sovereignty belongs to the Naga people alone.
And from the highest hill to the deepest valley, that voice will rise again:
“This is us. This is our nation. This is our home.”
***Michael Meiphami Shaiza is Co-incharge of BJP Manipur State Political Programmes and Meetings and President of Ukhrul-based NGO Ecological Rehabilitators’ Association (ERA).
(Views expressed are writers’ own and do not, in whatsoever manner, reflect that of Ukhrul Now)
