Kohima February 21 : The two-day Naga Convention for Reconciliation and Peace commenced today at Kohima local ground with General Secretary of Nagaland Baptist Church Council Rev. Zhabu Terhuja saying that the time has come for the suffering Naga people to enter a new dawn through the gate of reconciliation.The convention is on way under the aegis of the Forum for Naga Reconciliation and with the theme ‘Let My People Go’. Dwelling on the theme ‘Let my people go’ in the context of the Naga people and their struggle, Terhuja in his keynote address said “everything is not well, but everything is not lost”. The Nagas can rebuild their future if they hold on to this aspiration, the church leader said.“Time has come for Nagas to enter a new dawn and reconciliation is the gate to that future,” he told the gathering. The gathering comprised of hundreds of Naga people from all walks of life and almost all Naga-inhabited regions.He said the only way out for Nagas is to reason and dialogue together. Referring to Moses’ demand to the Pharaoh to ‘Let my people go’, the church leader said in this case, God himself took the initiative. If the Nagas too believe that God himself had inspired Naga leaders, Rev. Zhabu Terhuja reminded, then they should return to God and seek his wisdom instead of relying on own earthly wisdom.The church leader said the problem with the Nagas today, is their going astray from God. But on the other hand again, the church leader reminded, many of the Naga “national” organizations and prayer groups claim to have received revelations from God, which are all contradictory to each other. For this, infighting, disunity and killings continue among the Nagas, he said. “Today our division can be the greatest strategy for anybody to keep us divided. Let us be wise enough,” he advised. He also quoted former Naga underground leader “gen.” Thenosilie’s comment that “we (Nagas) have no national government but only factional government, no national leaders but only factional leaders”. Rev. Terhuja said the time has come for Nagas to come together to achieve the desired, common aspiration since “our resources are too fragmented.” Questioning the type of goals the Naga “political” leaders could have in mind and whether they can build a new road ‘so that Nagas can travel safely and securely’, Terhuja said if the Naga leaders do not have an answer, then they should let the people and public decide their own future. Nagas need to build a moral and ethical integrity in order to travel the road to progress, he said.Messages of solidarity were read out by representatives from the Eastern Naga People Organization and Council of Naga Baptist Churches (CNBC). Tizu Area and Rengma Baptist Church Kohima choirs performed at the convention while Oriental Theological Seminary, Bade, and Call of God Ministry, Kohima, led the praise and worship. (Morung Express)
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