Tungjoy's NNC Marksman

Heigrujam Nabashyam *

The other day when I saw the name of L.S. John, ex-minister of Manipur in the list of Naga Parliamentarian Forum who supported Nagalim, I remember my days in Tungjoy, a village some 15 km from Tadubi on the Tadubi-Liyai road in Senapati district.

It was 1979; I was a teacher, teaching science in North District High School, Tungjoy – then a private school. It was a lovely village but it was fairly quiet and there were not many activities except the weekly church services and rituals and traditional ceremonies.

My first journey to Tungjoy was by a Shaktiman truck; there was no bus and no pucca road. However after a month or so of my stay in Tungjoy a small bus started plying 3 or 4 times a week between Imphal and Tungjoy. And I was told that the work orders for construction of the road had also been awarded to local contractors, but it remained the same till I left Tungjoy by the end of the year, after the close of the school session.

But Tungjoy is a prominent Poumai village consisting of Khullen and Khunou. The village has produced quite a few important personalities including ex-ministers R.K. Thekho and L.S. John and an important leader of NNC, Dahrü – I did not know the full name – who also happened to be a signatory of the Shillong Accord of 1975 between government of India and NNC under Angami Zapu Phizo.

Dahrü was respectfully addressed in the village as "Oja Dahrü" and I used to address him as "Oja" whenever I met him. And L.S. John, the ex-minister who was better known in the village as "Oja Heni" was basically a prominent contractor then, and I was told that he was an ex-serviceman, before he became a contractor and a politician.

My being a teacher at that point of time was because, one, of my curiosity to experience a life on the hills and two, I wanted to earn some money in the one-year break during my student career. Some of my students of class – X were quite mature and seemed to be of my age. And some students also came from the neighbouring Phek district of Nagaland. But overall the students were well disciplined and probably better behave than the students of Imphal then.

I stayed in Tungjoy for almost the whole academic year except during the summer vacation. I had participated in almost all the activities Tungjoy celebrated during the part of the year of my stay from bird-catching ritual in the jungle to herald the seed sowing season – I forgot the name – to the Glory Day of Tungjoy – all the food and drinks and the festivities in the air; it was a day every men, women and children enjoyed.

On Sundays and holidays I would either go in the wilds alone or with someone to enjoy the serenity or walk up to Paomata a distance of some 3/4 kms and go to the Assam Rifles/Army's canteen and buy some items like cornflakes etc. or some articles for my personal use and probably a bottle of Whisky – prices were less then half the market price – which would be handy in case of a dinner with some other teachers. Or I would go to a local teacher's house who would invite me for 'tea' which actually meant "Khayoo", the local rice beer which I could not say 'no' till I was full. Or on particular occasions I would go to the church with some of my students to pray.

In fact, I had enjoyed my stay in Tungjoy which was enlivened by two very intelligent little girls, both sisters – Miss Grace and Shanti – who lived near my quarter with whom I used to play tricks whenever I did not have anything to do, but I could not follow what they cursed me nor did they follow what I said. Now I hope they must be somebodies and living somewhere busy with their job.

Those days were peaceful in Tungjoy – there was no underground activities – and probably in other hill areas too. There was no NSCN(IM); NSCN was formed in 1980 as an offshoot of NNC, and NSCN(IM) came into existence when NSCN was bifurcated into Khaplang and Muivah faction in 1988.

But the idea of a Greater Nagaland was there in the minds of some social leaders and some educated persons. And once I had a heated argument with a local teacher in the presence of other teachers when he provoked me telling the hills should form part of Nagaland. However after that incident we never talk on the matter again, but our relations remained as warm as usual, because we did not cross the limit of decency.

But of all the people in Tungjoy, I found "Oja Dahrü", the NNC leader quite polite and sensible. He did not show any bias against Manipur, perhaps he had seen much more than anyone in Tungjoy what the struggle was all about. Once when I paid a visit to him I found a double fullscape printed paper lying near him.

But I could not make out what it was even if it was printed in English alphabet. When I asked him, he told me it was the "Ngamei" translation of the transcript of the talk between Phizo and prime minister Moraji Desai in London. And when he knew that I could not get what he said, he told me, "Nangdi Khangdabara, Nakhoi Meiteina Piba Ming-ni-ne Angami Haiba-se, Meitei-na Ngamei Haibado Shahebna Angami Haibanine" – Don't you know it is the name given by the Meitei, You call them Ngamei and that the English pronounce it as Angami; and he englightened me about the "Ngameis".

On a nostalgic note, now I have no information about Oja Dahrü but I have a feeling that persons like Oja Dahrü would give some sane advice to the leaders and the protagonists of Nagalim, in the larger interests of the people of the region and Manipur in particular.