ITANAGAR, 15 Apr: The Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR) on Monday announced that it has adopted the Naga national anthem, written and composed by (late) IAS officer R Kevichusa.
A resolution in this regard was adopted during meetings with Naga political groups (NPG) held in Nagaland’s Dimapur on 6 March and 13 April this year, the FNR informed in a press statement.
“In this connection, the resolution adds that… NPGs, institutions of learning, Naga civil bodies and all other organisations sing the Naga national anthem on important occasions,” the FNR said.
It said that the NPGs, civil society organisations, churches, prayer centres and citizens from across Naga areas converged at the ‘Nurturing Naga peoplehood: Liberating the Naga spirit’ event held from 16 to 18 February in Kutsapo, Nagaland, “with a renewed spirit of imagining the Naga future.”
“This was strengthened by subsequent meetings among the NPGs and the FNR in Kohima, on 2 March, 2024, followed by Dimapur, 6 March, 2024 and the latest meeting in Dimapur on Saturday, 13 April, 2024.
“These meetings were both critical reflections, coupled with constructive appraisals of the ‘journey of common hope’,” it said.
“A part of the constructive ‘journey of common hope’ is the practice of Naga sovereignty without impinging anyone. The Naga identity is not without a boundary as all identities imply a boundary. We affirm that Naga identity is permeable. In consonant,” the statement read.
During the meeting among the NPGs and the FNR on 13 April, it was agreed that, 16 May being the Naga Plebiscite Day, will be marked by a special programme, to be organised by the FNR, with support from the NPGs and other Naga bodies, in Dimapur, “to commemorate the Naga common political history and move forward without delay,” it said.
The 13 April meeting also took serious cognisance of the FNR’s resolution that stated, “We (NPGs) have understood and affirmed the importance of working out the Naga political process through cooperation as agreed in the ‘September Joint Accordant’, 14 September, 2022.”
During the meeting, the participants also reminded the NPGs to once again honour the ‘covenant of reconciliation’ signed on 13 June, 2009, by the highest level leaderships, in toto.
“Sporadic unpleasant happenings in the Naga context have been assessed in seriousness. The Kutsapo gathering has become a historical moment for our repentance and seeking forgiveness of sins of omission and commission. Without a doubt, it also has become the ground for renewal of faith and recommitment to god and to our fellow brothers and sisters. No matter how difficult it has been, today we confess of our personal and collective pride and hate before god and our people and seeks forgiveness from god and our people,” it added.
