DIMAPUR, SEP 21 (NPN): Ao Lanur Telongjem (ALT) has condemned what it described as persistent and politically motivated personal attacks against former Nagaland chief minister and former governor of Odisha, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Goa, Dr. S.C. Jamir, by leaders of the NSCN (I-M) and Naga People’s Front (NPF), adding he has every right to express his views on the Naga political issue.
In a joint statement, ALT convenor Imnaonen Pongen and co-convenor Tia Longchar drew attention on recent media reports and described them as a concerted campaign to denigrate Dr. Jamir simply for offering his perspective on the Naga political issue. ALT termed the remarks attributed to NSCN (I-M) leaders V.S. Atem, deputy ato kilonser, and R.H. Raising, a member of the collective leadership, as unacceptable.
ALT said both leaders sought to dismiss a veteran statesman as though he were a non-entity in the Naga political discourse. ALT took particular exception to Atem’s claim that Dr. Jamir was neither authorized nor mandated to represent the Naga people in the ongoing negotiations, and Raising’s assertion that Dr. Jamir was “not an advocate of the Naga people”. The union censured both leaders over the statements.
ALT maintained that Dr. Jamir is a true son of the soil who had dedicated his entire life to the service of Nagaland and its people and possessed every right to speak on the Naga political issue. Questioning NSCN (I-M)’s claim to an absolute monopoly or exclusive mandate, ALT pointed out that 37 Naga political groups existed today. It asked where Atem and Raising were when the Nagas submitted the historic memorandum to the Simon Commission in 1929, during the Naga Plebiscite of 1951, or when the Naga People’s Convention was held at Ungma in 1958.
The union firmly maintained that the Naga issue belonged to no single individual or faction and that every Naga had an inherent stake and equal right to speak on the collective political future. It said this right was even more pronounced in the case of a leader of Dr. Jamir’s stature.
While acknowledging that political disagreement was permissible, ALT said vilification and attempts to erase Dr. Jamir’s relevance were unacceptable and would not be tolerated.
The union said the Naga public had sacrificed endlessly and continued to bear the brunt of political uncertainty. At such a critical juncture, it said, vilifying a veteran leader and treating him as a “persona non grata” boded ill for the collective Naga political future.
ALT also referred to four failed assassination attempts on Dr. Jamir’s life and questioned whether these still failed to satisfy the NSCN (I-M) leadership?. It said providence had saved him on all occasions.
Questioning whether there was an illusion that Dr. Jamir’s legacy could be erased from history, ALT said this was a futile hope as the historical reality about the pivotal role played by Dr. Jamir and his contemporaries could neither be altered nor erased.
ALT therefore demanded that Atem and Raising retract their statements at the earliest.
ALT also took serious exception to comments made by NPF secretary general and advisor Achumbemo Kikon, for referring to Dr. Jamir as “an old man in a hurry”.
It said Dr. Jamir is today a senior statesman and considered a political patriarch and had also once been a young leader. It said Jamir’s decades of public service had given him “unmatched experience” in statecraft and the Naga political issue.
ALT said while Naga youth viewed Kikon as a rising politician with potential, but deriding a veteran who had devoted his life to Nagaland was unbecoming of a responsible public figure.
ALT opined that if, in Kikon’s estimation, Dr. Jamir was “an old man in a hurry”, then it could equally be said that Kikon was “a young man in a hurry to build his political standing”.
ALT said youthful enthusiasm must be tempered by the wisdom and experience of those who had walked the path before.
It said Kikon’s remarks had deeply hurt the sentiments of the Ao youth and advised him to exercise restraint against rhetoric. It said the Naga political issue was highly sensitive and that the monumental contributions of pioneer leaders should not be dismissed casually.
ALT said the present generation could not afford to be blinded by political shortsightedness that risked opening a “Pandora’s box” and deepening internal divisions among the Naga people.
ALT reiterated that the Naga political issue required an early, honourable and inclusive settlement based on the Framework Agreement and the Agreed Position.
Tuesday, September 22, 2026