DIMAPUR:
Ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) chairman TR Zeliang called upon the Nagas to maintain the records of their history for posterity and use indigenous names for places in Nagaland.
“Then only history will remain with us,” he said, addressing a programme after inaugurating the welcome arch of the Zeliangrongram colony on May 3.
Zeliang also called upon people to carry out extensive research work on the indigenous names for places.
Stressing that the Nagas must live with their history, culture and identity, the former chief minister asked the Naga people not to dilute their history but to carry it forward to hand it over to the future generations.
“Only by respecting out history, we will be able to usher a new era of peace, prosperity, development, and peaceful coexistence,” he said.
Interestingly, the former chief minister assertion come on the heels of the ongoing Naga Peace talks.
Expressing concern over the immigration of people from villages to towns and cities, he said, “Nowadays, you will find fewer people in villages and more people in towns and cities. We may lose our history because of this.” Cabinet minister YM Yollow and MLA Picto Shohe accompanied Zeliang.
Yollow, in his short address, stressed that the Nagas should respect and value each other. The cabinet minister also pointed out that those Naga tribes which were declared as backward during the formation of Nagaland state in 1963 are not so anymore and called upon all tribes to focus on education and acquiring knowledge to compete with the world.