Below is the full text of Ato Kilonser, NSCN-IM, Th. Muivah on the occasion of 77th Naga Independence Day celebration held at Council Headquarters, Hebron

My dear countrymen!

On this historic 77th Independence Day Celebration, I greet you all my fellow compatriots in the precious name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

In this auspicious national occasion let us give thanks to the Lord God, the Creator of the heaven and the earth, who has done marvellous works for the Nagas in their national struggle for freedom. In every difficult time the Lord has never abandoned the Nagas. He has been with us in all fronts – in the military front, diplomatic front, political front and the spiritual front as

well.

We Nagas are proud of our past dynamic leaders who took the right decision in declaring the Naga National Independence on the 14th August, 1947 on the eve of the British departure from the British India. It was a historic step that gives new meaning to the Naga National identity and saved the future of the Nagas.

In yet another challenging moment, the Naga people reaffirmed their national decision to remain a sovereign independence Nagalim rejecting the offer of Union of India and that of the Burma. I adore and salute those visionary leaders and the revolutionary generations.

Immediately after rejection of Union of India by the Nagas, the Indian aggression on Nagalim started resulting in massacre, mass torture, summary execution, mass rape, and mass detention in concentration camps, destruction of villages, Churches, schools and forests. Nevertheless,

the Naga people could withstand all those horrible persecutions and oppressions perpetrated against them and survived by the grace of God. History is the living witness. I pay homage to all those martyrs.

At every stage of the movement, the Naga people have no dearth of revolutionary patriots who can lead the nation in the right direction against all odds. Upholding the national decision, the Naga National Assembly rejected and condemned both the so-called 16-point memorandum and the Shillong Accord as treacherous acts of treasons.

The heart of the matter is that the Nagas are a sovereign people, who have been living in their own land from time immemorial. They are not begging for a piece of land from others. They have every right to build their own nation-state in their land. They must decide their future by themselves. And that should not be viewed as an aggression on the right of others.

The Naga national resistance movement is all about defending the inherent sovereign right of the Nagas and their land. After eighteen (18) years long political talks, the Government of India (Gol) and the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN), the one and only authentic political organization of the Naga people finally signed the historic Framework Agreement on the 3rd August, 2015 on the foundation of recognition of the unique history and sovereignty of the Nagas, and shared sovereignty and coexistence of the two entities. This is a mutually agreed official document. This Framework Agreement is our legacy. We must defend what we have

achieved with our own sweat and blood.

On the issue of integration of all Naga areas the Government of India has officially acknowledged that it is the legitimate right of the Nagas and therefore, it shall be finalised accordingly.

The flag and constitution are naturally inseparable from the sovereignty of a people. It is universally an accepted truth that flag and constitution are constituent parts of sovereignty. There is no ambiguity about it. The Indian leaders understand it too. They must take the stand to speak the truth.

Dear compatriots, we must understand that freedom is not the end of the matter. Freedom to worship God, the Creator, freedom to choose salvation, freedom to choose peace and progress and freedom to choose your kingdom is the heart and soul of the matter. Freedom is meaningless if we choose slavery or death.

This free Nagalim for Christ is our portion of land from God. We must possess it and defend it at all costs. No power on earth can stop the moving wheels of history. We will keep going.

KUKNALIM!

Th. Muivah