It’s the season to forgive and forget in Nagaland. Even as two top leaders of the dominant militant group in the state, the Issac-Muivah faction of the banned National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN), were meeting Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in Osaka on December 8, Naga elders, church leaders and NGOs cutting across tribal lines (there are 18 major Naga tribes) were busy organising a reconciliation meeting scheduled for December 20.
Nagas from across the northeast will gather in Kohima, Nagaland’s capital, that day to formally launch what is being called the ‘Naga reconciliation process’ aimed at getting people to ‘forgive and forget’ any past misunderstandings. This unique reconciliation process has been jointly initiated by the Naga Hoho, the apex tribal council of the Nagas, church leaders and almost every other frontline organisation representing the Naga elders and youths.