The political boundaries of a nation are not movable objects that can move from one place to another place in one century or even millenniums. And in conformity to this political and geographical fact, Naga territories have remained in the same place since the creation of the world to the present. This means that the ancient territories of Nagaland have not disappeared or moved into Indian or Burmese territories after 1947.
A territory however can be invaded and occupied by a foreign power. This is what has happened to Naga territories after 1947. But whatever the case may be, Naga territories have remained the same as yesterday and Nagas have still not surrendered it to India or Burma.
As for the territories of Nagaland, they are not scattered here and there with some parts in the Indian Manipur state, some in Assam, some in Arunachal and still others in Burma. Quite on the contrary, all these neighbouring Indian states and the Burmese state are outside the boundaries of Nagaland. To once again quote Jawaharlal Nehru’s statement, he had clearly stated Naga territories as: “The tribal areas are defined as being those long frontiers of India which are neither part of India nor Burma, nor of Indian states nor of any foreign power.” As for the British Imperial Power that had once ruled over both India and Burma, they had put the Naga territories under “Excluded areas” in their 1935 Constitution of India Act.
These territories of Nagaland form a contiguous and continuous whole stretching to over one hundred thousand sq. kms. This is to say that within this “contiguous and continuous whole” there are no other pocket or fringe settlements of any other people residing inside Naga territories.
But despite all these concrete facts of history and geography of Naga territories, some so called Naga leaders seems to be bent on disintegrating Naga lands and its people by playing into the hands of the occupational governments and their military rule over Nagaland. These leaders are using the Naga national struggle as their springboards to achieve their own political ambitions. They seem to be even ready to transfer sovereign Naga citizenship to that of another country’s citizenship and Constitution. On the other hand there are those among the Naga family, who seem determined to form their own frontier state under the Constitution of India and Burma. The General Naga Public should never allow such narrow minded Nagas to achieve their own selfish ambitions and disintegrate the Naga people and their territories. We are all aware that thousands upon thousands of Nagas from all over the Naga territories have laid down their lives in order to protect and preserve the Naga national and geographical identity. Never should the Naga public allow any faction or Naga civil society to seek their own sub-national identity with Naga blood and Naga tears.
Kaka D Iralu
