Kohima, Jan. 10: When the top guns of the NSCN (I-M) — Thuingaleng Muivah and Isak Chisi Swu — paid homage to the memorial of the apostle of non-violence at Rajghat, it hardly surprised anyone in Nagaland. The Mahatma has been a household name here since 1946 and is considered a “friend of the Nagas”. In contrast to the “lukewarm response” to the visit of the two leaders a day earlier, when TV channels beamed pictures of the two NSCN (I-M) leaders at Rajghat yesterday, Naga old-timers said “the gesture of the collective leadership was a reflection of the esteem in which the Nagas held Gandhi”.
A booklet of the Naga National Council (NNC) — founded by Angami Zaphu Phizo — states that Nagaland, with villages like little republics “is a nation of the dream of Mahatma Gandhi”.
“I was born in Burma and came here only in 1946. I would not like to comment on politics, but there is no doubt about the greatness of the man (the Mahatma) and I personally respect him a lot,” said Raileno, daughter of Phizo. The NSCN (I-M) leaders also said in Delhi that if there was someone who had done positive things for Nagaland, it was the Mahatma.
Natwar Thakkar had established an ashram in Chuchuyemlong near Mokokchung, which still produces handmade products and promotes a Gandhian way of living. “Their khadi shop did not run here,” said one of Thakkar’s landlords in Kohima, where he had lived years ago. Thakkar now lives in Guwahati and visits the state annually, still widely respected as a veteran Gandhian.
Leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi are seen more as political heads, but nobody links Gandhiji to politics. When one finds booklets on international leaders in Naga homes, Gandhiji is not left out. Raileno said in the Forties, “when the Indian freedom struggle was on, his name made an impression in Nagaland, too”.
Nagas fondly recall a meeting between a Naga delegation and Gandhiji way back when the nation was being formed. The father of the nation had reportedly told the delegation that “Nagas had every right to be independent”.
He even said, “I will come to Kohima and ask them to shoot me before they shoot one Naga”, when the members had expressed a dubiety that Delhi may use force to subdue the Nagas.