ABSTRACT
When it met, the NNe was narrowly in favour of endorsing the NinePoint Agree~ent, but it remained unsigned because the council was united on the unacceptability of Article 9. A unanimous demand was tabled to reject that particular clause. Phizo was in no way mollified by this development. Expressing disappointment in what he termed the servility of his colleagues (many of whom were of course government servants), he broke ranks with them to lead an avowedly pro-independence group. His belief in the rightness of his action and in himself never wavered from that moment. It was as though he had planted a placard on the council table for the future of Nagaland, declaring: 'if you have faith, nothina shall be impossible to you.'
