Dimapur, Nagaland, February 20 (HBTV): Churches, Naga political groups, prayer centers and civil society organizations from across the Naga community, who converged at Kütsapo village in Phek district for discussions, have declared a commitment to unity, reconciliation, and acknowledgment of both individual and collective failures to build and move forward to achieve the aspirations of the Naga people.     

Nagas from approximately 160 prayer centers, churches, various Naga cultural bodies, gaon boras, Naga political groups, civil society organizations, state and public leaders, and citizens gathered to pray and ‘listen to the voice of God,’ a statement from the organizers said.   

A declaration was undertaken during the meeting, called the Nurturing Naga Peoplehood, organized by the Naga Shisha Hoho and the Forum for Naga Reconciliation. The gathering took place from February 16 to the 18th at Kütsapo village in Phek district.     

The gathering acknowledged and confessed that the Nagas have disobeyed God, individually and collectively, the statement said.      

The statement said the story points to structural realities of hate and rage, pride and exclusion, justification and isolation, and self-preservation and rejection. And for this, it stated, they repent before God and submit to his will.

There will be no forward journey out of the darkness of faith for the Nagas without a people willing to live and work together out of this present condition. The passing into liberation begins with humans, the declaration stated.      

According to the declaration, the forward journey involves all people who make up the Naga nation, and a journey all-encompassing where no one is left out. 

In this regard, the Kütsapo gathering proclaimed a declaration: Recognizing that liberation always begins from within, the gathering committed to discerning and correcting themselves from within to mend divisions and nurture a renewed, healthy, and intact Naga ‘peoplehood.’

The Kütsapo declaration also upheld the Covenant of Reconciliation that was signed on June 13, 2009, through which violence ceased among the Naga political groups.        

The gathering declared that they will continue to uphold this in words and actions. With this common sense of belonging, the Naga public calls on the Naga political groups to sincerely find ways to enter into genuine relationships of cooperation.

The Kütsapo declaration further urged the government of India to peacefully ‘consummate’ the Naga political issue with dignity and respect that is founded on Naga historical and political rights.

The gathering also appealed to all the churches across Naga lands to pray for peaceful resolution, reconciliation and unity, and the rebuilding of the Naga homeland.

Further, in a significant statement, the declaration also made a commitment to work toward regenerating the Nagas’ cultural values. The appeal is holistic in nature which values the reconnection with the people’s deep cultural values, the land, and their way of life, the declaration stated.    

Further, the gathering recognized how structural violence had institutionalized many conditions leading to corruption and impunity, which are eroding the Naga people’s quality of life, the declaration stated.