IMPHAL: On the last day of the three-day “total shutdown in Naga areas” under the jurisdiction of the United Naga Council (UNC) on Thursday, candlelight vigils were observed in various places by the Nagas. The “total shutdown” and the candlelight vigils were observed to “mourn the death of two beloved Naga civilians” killed in Ukhrul district on April 18, “and as a collective expression of condemnation”.
Chinaoshang Shokwungnao (45 years) of Tashar village, and Yaruingam Vashum, 42 years of Kharasom village, Ukhrul district were killed at TM Kasom village along NH-202 (Imphal-Ukhrul road). Naga organisations, including the UNC accused the Kuki militants for the killing.
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Candlelight vigils were observed in Imphal and in all the district headquarters of Senapati, Ukhrul, Kamjong, Chandel, Tengnoupal, Tamenglong, Tamei and also in many other places.
“This was not just an attack on two men. This was an attack on every Naga who travels our highways. An attack on our right to live, to move, to exist without fear in our own land. NH-202 is not a war zone. It is a lifeline. And when blood is spilled on it, the silence of those who must protect us becomes louder than the gunfire”, said UNC president Ng Lorho while delivering a speech in Senapati district headquarters Thursday evening during the candlelight vigil.
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To the Kukis, the UNC chief said, “Our suspension of ties these three days is our traditional way of grief. It is not hatred. It is mourning. But let it be understood — our patience, our commitment to peace, must never be mistaken for weakness”.
To the Naga youth, Ng Lorho said, “Hold these flames high, but keep your hearts disciplined. Our strength has always been in our unity, in our dignity, in our refusal to become what we condemn”.
As these candles burn, said the UNC leader, “Let each flame stand for a promise. A promise that S.W. Chinaoshang and Yaruingam Vashum will not be reduced to statistics. A promise that we will protect the living so no more mothers wait for sons who will never come home. A promise that peace, when it returns, will be a peace with dignity”.
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The UNC leader also, “We are gathered here this evening not in celebration, but in grief. We light these candles for two sons of our soil — Mr. S.W. Chinaoshang and Mr. Yaruingam Vashum”.
The UNC president then said that the Government of India cannot wash its hands of this. He said that, for months, “armed groups have moved freely along our highways under the shadow of the Suspension of Operations (SoO)” agreement. “Central forces are present, yet Nagas are killed in broad daylight on national highways. If this is not complicity through inaction, what is it?”, he questioned, adding, “Protection cannot be selective. Security cannot be conditional. When the Centre fails to disarm those who kill civilians, it becomes a party to the crime”.
The UNC president then said, “Today we do not gather for revenge. We gather for remembrance. We gather to tell the families of Chinaoshang and Yaruingam: Your sons did not die unnoticed. Their names are spoken tonight in every Naga headquarters. In Imphal, Kohima, in every range and village, in every home where a candle burns”.
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Ng Lorho then said, “As we mourn, let this also be seen: Naga grief knows no state borders”. From Manipur to Nagaland, from Assam to Arunachal, from Myanmar to wherever our people live — “we light these candles together”, he also said, adding, ,”Our pain is shared, and so is our resolve”. The bullets that struck “our brothers” at T.M. Kasom were felt in every Naga village, he stated, adding, “Because we are one people. One history. One destiny. No line on a map can divide that truth”.
The UNC president then expressed his gratitude to the Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) and various students’ organisations and many other organisations in Nagaland state for showing solidarity in this time of hardship.
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