How Is Politics Today In Nagaland? - Eastern Mirror
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Op-Ed

How is Politics Today in Nagaland?

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By EMN Updated: Jul 27, 2016 12:00 am

Vladimir Putin, when asked to comment on the behavior of his countrymen in the recent riot of Soccer fans in the European Football Championship in France, is reported to have said:

“I truly don’t understand how 200 of our (Russian) fans could beat up several thousands of English”.

When they heard the comment, Russians laughed aloud and chanted –“Russkie Vperyod” (Forward Russians); and even Russian Soccer Federation Deputy Chairman Lebedev joined!

Indeed, with forethought and experience; a few hooligans can rout a much bigger group in a militarized brawl.

A little treachery is useful in outwitting a powerful rival and, if you don’t get caught, you are not a thief!

Putin’s moral bearing appears off the Mark for a permanent UN Security Council Member responsible for maintaining Peace in the World.

NSCN (IM) politics and political principles.
The NSCN (IM) completely dominates Political Atmosphere in Nagaland today 2016 and have sometimes appeared a little like Vladimir Putin!

The 3rd August 2015 Indo-IM Accord is said to be of Principles of the Talk, and the details of the Talk may not be disclosed prematurely but keeping the Principles of the Talk in Secret, is to seriously de-humanize the encourageable Talk.

In the political horizon of the Naga, two issues are of paramount importance and the Naga jealously guards them almost sacrosanct. These 2 Issues are -Sovereignty and Integration:

Sovereignty is normally considered an absolute indivisible Right of a Nation or of a State. It is the sovereign Right of
an Independent State. In personal term, this absolute Right and Independence of the State is like Wife and Husband
that can not be shared with any others.

The IM interprets Sovereignty as something that can be ‘Shared between two Nation States’ and enigmatically defined it as being ‘in the mind of the people’.

Sovereignty of an Independent State is not divisible; it cannot be shared with any others, neither with neighbor States nor with other friendly States. And Sovereignty is not something that exist only in the mind of the people only as if it is not necessary in Reality. Sovereignty is not like Peace of Mind in Mahatma Gandhi even while in Jail. Sovereignty in the People without Political Sovereignty of the State, has no meaning. It is a fallacy to say Sovereignty is in the People as if it is not necessary in the State.

If ‘Sovereignty in the people’ suffices ‘Sovereignty of the Nation’, then:

India has would have no political Problem in Kashmere, Hyderabad need not have been militarily captured from the Nizam, Manipur is still a semi-Independent State.

Dalai Lama would have no dispute with China, All the other States of India would have made a beeline to RN. Ravi and Modi for similar Accord!

If Sovereignty is in the People, then the Naga Club Petition to the Simon Commission in 1929 has no historical value
and the Naga Political Movement for Freedom no meaning.

The Naga is fighting neither for Shared Sovereignty nor for Sovereignty in the People. Sovereignty is not divisible; it is Real and Sovereign, nothing can replace it.

If India says Naga Sovereignty is not in ‘the Realms of possibilities’ and outside the framework of the Constitution; then let Muivah and Raising tell the Truth to the Naga Public. The Public would then sympathize with them and feel drawn to them. Otherwise the Public of Nagaland would ask:

‘Is the Government of India fooling the IM or the IM is fooling the GoI? Who is fooling whom?’

But none can fool the Constitution of India because: A part of a Constitution cannot contradict the other part of the
same Constitution.

Nagaland is safeguarded by Art. 371A of the Constitution of India and cannot be put under Pan Naga Hoho. The State can not come under a District Autonomy of the Pan Naga Hoho.

Autonomy for Naga inhabited Areas of the other States is a very welcome proposition, but the State concerned must
consents. That Autonomy must be done with the consent of all Communities concerned in the area of the States and
the Autonomy must have wide range of Freedom..

Position of Nagaland state in the Indo-IM accord.
Because of the GoI inability to Integrate all the Naga inhabited Areas, saying it is “OUTSIDE THE REALMS OF POSSIBILITIES” and because of the Special Constitutional Provision already in the State of Nagaland, the later has nothing much to do with the 3rd August 2015 Indo-IM Accord, until all the Naga Areas of the other States are integrated with Nagaland.

Till then Nagaland must exist a separate entity from the Accord like Britain exited from the European Union. This
should be the Stand of the State of Nagaland but the State decision makers have all exited from the Responsibility.
This can be proposed by an Organization exclusively dealing with Nagaland State.

The Naga Club was only a Club of Government Servants and in its present disposition, it may better not deal in Politics. The Naga Hoho is a Pan Naga Organization, not exclusively of Nagaland alone. Under the circumstances, the Nagaland Tribes Council (NTC) is the Organization the most appropriate exclusively for Nagaland. The Nagaland Tribes Council (NTC) must function for what Nagaland should do. The NTC must function for taking Nagaland out of the 3rd August Accord. No outsider can decide for Nagaland.

To do that, however, the NTC must first have the Mandate of the People from each and every Village Councils of Nagaland. Nagaland must decide for itself.

The ENPO may move to get Special Treatment from Nagaland just like Nagaland has special consideration from India. To move for a separate State, it may be too long a shot for the muzzle loading Gun and the Prey may be beyond the Range. The ENPO may continue as an NGO sans Politics for the economic wellbeing of the Area.

The 3rd August 2015 Accord requires some clarifications:
I. What is not in India’s ‘the Realms of possibilities’?
II. What are the Naga Sentiments India understand?
III. What is the Unique Naga History India understands?
IV. What in the Talk, is ‘Within the framework and what is outside the framework of the Constitution’?

The IM alone however can not be blamed for everything gone awry in Naga Politics. The Naga Politics had Weaknesses of Ignorance and of Incompetence’s, even Treachery. Anyway, this is not the Time to dwell on all of those things in detail, unless the Writer is interested to write a Thesis on the Subject to get a prefix ‘Dr’ to his name like some nice Theologians in Nagaland.

Foundation of Naga political ,movement.
Firstly, Had the British Colonial Power come to Naga Hills 10 years late, the Hindu Civilization would have swamped the Naga traditional Customary Practices with their Caste System. The Caste System is completely alien to Naga life and the casteless colonial Power delaying a little in their coming to the Northeast, would have the Hillman overwhelmed by the Caste System of India.

Christianity protected the whole Hillman of the Northeast from the hegemony of a despicable Caste System, and the Dobashi Petition of 1929 to the Simon Commission for a separate life of the Naga from India, sowed the seed of the Naga’s forward Movement for Freedom.

The Naga must thank the NSCN (IM) also, for taking Christianity to Pagan Nagas of Myanmar, albeit with a little of the weight of the barrel of the Gun. This is a historical contribution the NSCN made for the Naga, it will be remembered for many, many centuries into the future.

The Rongmei Naga would be making a historic blunder if they take the BJP bait of Gaidinliu into the cursed Hindu Caste System!

The abhorrent Caste discrimination and inequality in the Hindu Society is completely incompatible to Equity in the Naga Culture.

The Foundation of Socialism is in oddity to the individual freedom of life in the Naga Society. Socialism is tangent to
personal freedom, the Colonial Officers observed in the Naga as the Purest Form of Democracy imaginable. The Naga Ethos is Freewill Democratic Equity, not Socialism.

One of the most poignant thing seen for the first time in Nagaland politics for the last 15years since the creation of the State of Nagaland on 1st December 1963, is the appropriation of the State Decisionmaking Body from Nagaland by people from Outside Nagaland. People from outside Nagaland has become the decisionmakers for Nagaland. Outsiders are making decisions for Nagaland in; – Selection of Assembly Candidates, Elections, Projects formulations, Awards of Contracts, Appointments, Transfer & Posting of Government Servants; even Legislation of Land Laws in Nagaland Assembly have been influenced by people from outside the State. The 60 MLAs of Nagaland have abdicated their Responsibilities to the State!

The partisan dominance in the decision making Body in the IM Organization, by people from Manipur, -10 out of 13
in Cabinet Rank, -Muivah, Atem, Raising, Ramkathing, Shimrah, Luingam, Horam, Phungthing, Puni, Chawang from Manipur; Toqu, Tongmet, Jami from Nagaland- is the Finger on the Wall of what may befall a Socialist State of Nagalim under the Government of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim. Socialism principally is a Dictatorship of the Majority; the Individual is the property of the State, unfortunately compulsorily.

Such partisan dealings generate tendency to downgrade the universal dependence on length of Service for good Governance leading to a decrease in the quality of the Government by giving out-of-the-way preferences arbitrarily by a Pick & Choose Practice. Socialism is at odd with freewill democratic equity of the Naga.

The 4th Article of the 3rd August 2015 Indo-IM Accord has: “all natural resources found in the Naga area below the
ground and on the surface will belong to the Nagas”. This lends credence to what this Writer has described above the Agenda of a Socialist Government. The 4th Item of the Accord grievously deviates from the traditional customary practices the Naga followed from time immemorial and even Indian Parliament honors the practice unless desired otherwise and voted so by the legislative Assembly of Nagaland.

The Naga is co-operative and does not like Socialist compulsion of co-operation in which the Individual Freedom is caged. Britain exercised its Sovereignty and exited from the European Union on 23 June 2016 after many years of association with the EU. Many in Britain felt the EU Parliament has encroached on Britain’s Sovereignty. There is nothing such as ‘Shared Sovereignty’.

The inability of the GoI for agreeing to Naga Passport is a clear example of the impossibility of Shared Sovereignty.

The non-recognition of the IM Flag by the GoI as equal and separate from that of the Indian Tricolor is based on Universal practice of One Nation: One Flag. The IM Flag is a replica of earlier and original NNC (Naga National Council) flag adopted long before the NSCN was born.

One mark of lack of depth and Reality in the present Naga generation is the unmanageable desire of the various nongovernmental Civil Organizations (NGO) of every persuasion, meddling in every political affair in Nagaland today. The APO, the Ao Senden, the Lotha Hoho, the Sümi Kaghakulu, the ENPO, the CNTC, the NTC, the Naga Hoho, Naga Mother Association, the NSF, the ANTABA….; so and so forth; talking, discussing, negotiating, threatening, issuing ultimatums, warning, banning, blockading, agreements made with and to everybody in the World; has cheapened Naga Politics.

At this rate, People may become tired of Naga Politics and become disinterested in the NAGA.

Leave the profitable Political Affairs to the uncontrollable mushrooming Political Groups germinating in the blessed land of the Naga and have a good night’s sleep!

By the way:
Nagaland State had 15 minutes (fifteen Minutes, not 1115 minutes and not even One and Half Day) for discussions in their Summer Session of the Assembly!!?

Thepfulhouvi Solo.
angami_t@yahoo.co.in

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By EMN Updated: Jul 27, 2016 12:00:22 am
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