The Naga National Council will be observing the 75th Naga Plebiscite Day on May 16, 2025 at Khucochiezhie (Kohima Local Ground) at 10:00 am.
This was informed in a press release issued by the Planning & Coordination Committee, The Naga Plebiscite Commission.
It mentioned that this year’s commemoration will be a year-long event with various activities planned leading to the 75th Anniversary Year in 2026.
“We repose full faith in the leadership of the Naga public organizations and trust every Naga, the old and the young, join the celebration in the spirit of the occasion. We entrust the young people to step-up and nurture our story handed-down to us with all your hearts, minds, strengths, and resources at our disposal to ensure that the baton of our birthright, heritage and indelible living history is passed on to our children for our tomorrow,” the Commission stated.
On May 16, 1951, the Naga National Council conducted the voluntary Plebiscite under the leadership of A.Z. Phizo. Nagas used their thumb impression to make their voice heard. “It was the finest democratic expression of the collective political will exercised by the Naga people. It was the clearest statement that Nagas had the political consciousness to organise themselves as a people and a nation. The peoples’ mandate was loud and clear with 99.9 percent in favour of independence. The verdict of the Plebiscite was the peoples’ endorsement of NNC Declaration of Naga Independence on 14th August 1947 and the Nagas’ first political memorandum submitted by Naga Club to the Simon Commission in 1929 that states, “…leave us alone to determine ourselves as in ancient times.” The Naga political position was accorded the peoples’ mandate through the Plebiscite and this exercise further consolidated the struggle in the ‘administered Naga-Hills’ and the independent ‘Free-Naga’ territory to continue with one voice,” the press release stated.
In the long struggle, Nagas experienced unimaginable atrocities and brutality from the 1950s. In this regard, the Commission accorded the fullest respect and recognition to its visionary pioneers and national workers who sacrificed their lives for the collective vision and aspiration of the Nagas.
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The Commission also acknowledged that the present Naga political struggle is characterised by deep division and discord, causing much harm to the struggle and created confusion, fatigue and insecurity among the Naga people.
“However, this momentary phase does not take away the irrefutable historical right and legitimacy of our political foundation. Every Naga has a story to tell and the story will continue through posterity as truthfully and powerfully as it must, on the foundation of our peoplehood and nationhood. We acknowledge the unmistakable Hands of God in the making of our nation and history that reinforces us to face trials with the dignity, ingenuity and audacity of our forefathers. As we stand on this threshold, we have before us the 75th Naga Plebiscite Day––the verdict that gave us the mandate and the voice to stand together with courage in our struggle. We reaffirm our faith in the vision of the Plebiscite by observing this solemn and historic day in the spirit it truly and rightfully deserves,” it asserted.
With this in mind, The Naga Plebiscite Commission has been set up with the blessings of NNC elders and leaders to collectively mark the historic day. The Commission stands on the founding NNC principles of the 1940s and ‘50s when all Nagas stood together under one institution with one vision. The idea of the Commission is for all Nagas to stand on the mandate of 1951 Plebiscite and come together to reiterate its rightful place in history and mark the occasion guided by democratic principles as it was in the past.
The Commission is supported by the Planning and Coordination Committee, comprising various Naga public organizations, entrusted with the task of organising the historic event on May 16, 2025.
