May 16, 1951 is the most important dateline and a turning point in Naga political history, when on this day, the political destiny was decided when an overwhelming 99.99% of people in the erstwhile Naga Hills, put their thumb impressions to affirm their desire to be left free to decide their future. Despite the dark cloud of a militarised and oppressive environment, Nagas cast their votes and the verdict was clear and resolute: to remain free. The vote was an affirmation of Naga identity that was laid and cemented on May 16,1951. This act of spontaneous and bold assertion encapsulated the unyielding spirit of Naga nationalism and the community\u2019s unbroken commitment to their identity and rights. The public referendum was conducted at a time when Naga hills was engulfed in turmoil under the heavy weight of being declared a \u2018Disturbed Area,\u2019 and came at a steep price.The government\u2019s response through the Disturbed Area Act-involved deploying around one lakh armed personnel, including state armed police forces and the Indian Army.The Act was then supplemented by the Armed Forces(Special)Powers Act 1958 which was promulgated for the first time in India. During the turbulent 50s, the black law provided constitutional power to the armed forces to act at will even to the point of causing death inflict horrific atrocities under the plea of enforcing law and order. The militarization led to brutal campaigns against unarmed people but the world forgot about the Nagas. This law continues to be in operation in Nagaland while it has been lifted in several north eastern states.Much water have flown down the rivers of Nagaland since 1951 and they carry the stories of resilience and hope. The pain and sacrifice of the past cannot be forgotten, nor should they be. The people reposed their faith and trust on those who took up the Naga Plebiscite as a mandate to pursue the Naga national movement. It was an act of spontaneous and bold assertion that encapsulated the unyielding spirit of Naga nationalism and the community\u2019s unbroken commitment to their identity and rights.To the government of India, the Plebiscite was an act of insurrection and despite the suffering that resulted, the Naga people did not waver. They are the heroes and not any other leader. In fact the Plebiscite has been dishonoured by the stories of betrayals and divisions. The Plebiscite should be a day of introspection among all sections to acknowledge how human frailties and ambitions have led to factionalism and betrayal of people\u2019s trust. In 1951 there was one national group and one leader but today, 74 years later, there are nearly 30 groups and a multitude of leaders. In the 50s every Naga identified oneself as a member of the same Naga family. Today every Naga identifies oneself by tribe and within the tribe, by village and within village by clan. Tribalism and division within the family and the blatant acts inimical to peace and harmony among the Naga family reflect the failure of the leaders. The post-Plebiscite day generation, need to exercise their freedom to guide their destiny to a future of coexistence and understanding. In retrospect, it may be noted that in 1951 Nagas came together for a political goal but today they need to come together for a transformational goal for peace and progress.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
May 16, 1951 is the most important dateline and a turning point in Naga political history, when on this day, the political destiny was decided when an overwhelming 99.99% of people in the erstwhile Naga Hills, put their thumb impressions to affirm their desire to be left free to decide their future. Despite the dark […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[685],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-487617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editorial"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=487617"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487617\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=487617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=487617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=487617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}