By Michael Meiphami Shaiza
History does not wait. Neither can a people.
It is true that the Naga political solution may come tomorrow. It is also possible that it may take another eighty years. Nations are not built on wishful timelines, time in the hands of nations and in the hands of God is not ours to command. But while we wait on political negotiations and divine providence, the Nagas in Manipur cannot afford to wait and watch as our villages are encroached and burned, our lifelines are choked, and our future is bargained away in the dirty politics of blame and corruption.
To wait is to surrender. To be silent is to consent. Therefore we must fix accountability and responsibility now — for the Nagas in Manipur, and for the Nagas in all other states — so that we move forward as one people with one conscience, and not remain stuck in a cycle of mudslinging and inaction.
Our stand
Scripture declares: “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy” [Proverbs 31:8-9].
We are a covenant people. Our land was not given to us by politics. It was entrusted to us by God and defended by the blood of our forefathers. Responsibility is therefore not a political slogan. It is a sacred duty.
Accountability begins at home. It demands that Naga political groups, Indian political parties, and Naga Civil Society Organizations stop using the Naga people as bargaining chips and start serving the Naga people as shepherds. When villages burn, when highways are closed, when youth lose hope, the question is not who to blame. The question is: who will act.
Three urgent realities facing the Nagas
1. The Protection of Naga Villages Along the Illegal Road: Churachandpur to Kangpokpi
Factual and lawful reality: Several Naga villages lie exposed and vulnerable along an illegal road being constructed and used by Kuki Refugee Narco-terrorists Cannibals groups connecting Churachandpur to Kangpokpi.
This is not merely a road. It is a strategic corridor that alters demography, threatens land rights, and exposes our people to intimidation, arms movement, and illegal taxation. For many reasons — the security of women and children, the protection of ancestral agricultural fields and forests, the preservation of our territorial boundaries, and the prevention of further annexation — these villages require immediate and strong protection.
Intelligently and prudently, this protection must be threefold: physical security through lawful means, legal assertion of land ownership and jurisdiction, and political articulation at the highest levels of the Government of India and Government of Manipur that any infrastructure on Naga land without Naga consent is null and void. To ignore this is to allow a slow annexation village by village. We must say it strongly and vehemently: Naga land is not vacant land.
2. The Imphal–Ukhrul National Highway via Litan: The Lifeline Must Be Free
The National Highway from Imphal to Ukhrul through Litan is the artery of the Naga people of Ukhrul, Kamjong, and the eastern districts. When this road is blocked, when travelers are harassed, when essential goods are stopped, it is not an administrative problem. It is a humanitarian crisis.
To make this highway safe, free, and accessible for all travelers is not a request. It is a right. It is urgent. A student must reach his exam hall. A patient must reach the hospital. A farmer must reach the market. Any peace or governance in Manipur that cannot guarantee free movement on this highway is neither peace nor governance.
We imploringly and assertively call upon the Government of India and the State Government to provide permanent security, to dismantle all illegal checkpoints, and to prosecute those who obstruct this lifeline. The life of the Naga people cannot be held hostage.
3. A Sustainable Peace Roadmap for Manipur: The Naga Stake Is Non-Negotiable
Manipur is in crisis. In the midst of violence and division, the Naga political and territorial rights are often treated as an afterthought. This is unacceptable and cannot be ignored.
A sustainable peace roadmap for Manipur must centrally and significantly address the Naga issue. It must recognize Naga history, Naga land, and Naga aspirations. This responsibility lies squarely on three shoulders:
1. Naga Political Groups must speak with unity and clarity, not in competing narratives.
2. Indian Political Parties must stop treating Nagas as vote banks during elections and stakeholders during conflict.
3. Naga CSOs must rise above organizational ego and lead with moral authority and social cohesion.
Peace without justice is a ceasefire. Peace with justice is a future. We must pursue the latter with all our brilliance, insight, and power.
Political call
For too long we have been muddied in the politics of blame. Naga vs Naga. Tribe vs Tribe. Hill vs Valley. While we fight each other, others draw our maps for us.
This must end. Retrospectively, we must learn from our divisions. Introspectively, we must ask what we have failed to do. Prospectively, we must build.
Logically, our path is clear: Assert our rights lawfully. Protect our people powerfully. Engage politically with wisdom and not with emotion alone. Engage socially with empathy and not with arrogance. Engage spiritually with prayer and not with despair.
The Naga solution, whenever it comes, will not undo the damage done today if we do not act today. Therefore, accountability and responsibility are not things we can postpone for “after the solution.” They are the very things that will determine if there is a people left to receive the solution.
Appeal to conscience and courage
To the Naga people in general, and to the Nagas of Manipur in particular: the hour is critical. The pressure is immense. The temptation to be silent is great. But silence in the face of annexation is complicity.
We must be amazingly resilient, incredibly united, and beautifully dignified in our resistance. We must be aggressive in defense, assertive in negotiation, and compassionate in community.
May God, who sees the sparrow and numbers the hairs on our head, give us the wisdom of Solomon, the courage of David, and the perseverance of Nehemiah who rebuilt the walls in the face of opposition.
The road ahead is hard. But we are a people of the hills. We know how to climb.
Let us fix what can be fixed today. Let us protect who can be protected today. Let us speak for who cannot speak today.
For if we do not, who will? And if not now, when?
God bless the Naga people. God guard our land. God lead us forward.
***
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)
