Khekiye K. Sema
[dropcap]F[/dropcap]or the past 50 years, the Nagas have left Article 371 (A) in hibernation never having tested its potency. We finally woke up from our slumber for the very first time to interpret the relevant clause as we understand it in relation to Petroleum and Natural Gas exploration and exploitation. We have however been dealt a rude shock that others don't see this Article as we do or assumed. While it is a stated objective of the Chief Minister of Nagaland that (quote): "we are not aiming any confrontation with anyone including the Union Government" (unquote), when the chips are down, to what length will the State Government and the Nagas really be prepared to stand and challenge the Government of India in defining the wholesome sanctity of this Article? This is a subject that surpasses all normal considerations.
Article 371 (A) is not just another run of the mill clause finding its way into the Constitution of India as a matter of course. It is the only defining grace that safeguards Naga identity, our dignity, our honour and our rights as an undermined minority amidst overwhelming indifferent majority. It would be a treacherous dishonour on the part of the Government of India to forget and misinterpret Article 371(A) as per their whims as if it is some sort of a voluntary gift being endowed upon the Nagas as a free will concession on their part to be treated with their customary contempt. The Nagas have registered this little niche by right after going through extreme injustices, humiliation of inhuman tortures, sacrifices where thousands of innocent Naga lives had been butchered and raped by Indian Occupational Army.
The GoI must understand that unlike any other Articles and Clauses in its Constitution, Article 371 (A) has been written with the blood of the Nagas. India will be honour bound not only in the eyes of God but in the eyes of the International Community as well, to first equate the same measure of blood, torture and inhuman degradation on the scale of natural justice to undo this Article or misinterpret it as they choose. The Naga interpretation of Article 371(A) can well and truly be summed up by the declaration of a Sumi Chieftain who proclaimed that: “the sky above my land is mine just as much as the land and whatever below it is". This is the precise Naga definition of Article 371 (A).
We, the Nagas, have never even looked at the provisions of this Article seriously enough and have miserably failed to exercise the Constitutional empowerment as enshrined therein. Thus far, we have accepted everything passed by the Indian Parliament without ascertaining whether such laws contradict our customary practices. Let me try and share a fresh perspective to Article 371(A). Ours is a Tribal society with an inherent ancestral social and customary practices that encompass every aspect of our lives from the beginning of time. Defining it for a broader systematic application is well within our capability and means. In essence, Article 371(A) empowers the Nagas to do just that... to set up our own independent indigenous system to dispense "administration of civil and criminal justice" bringing almost all decisions and actions within the purview of Naga customary law and practices.
The Indian system should serve the purpose of augmenting the shortfall and lacuna rather than the other way round. If we were to go by the dishonourable standards manifested by India over the period in history, the Nagas have every right of apprehension to distrust the integrity of India as a Nation. Remember the agreement signed between NNC and the GoI known as the 9 Points agreement signed by Akbar Hydari Ali, the Governor of Assam on behalf of the Government of India and how casually it was thrown into the waste paper basket? Yet we did not revolt. Remember how disdainfully they transferred The Status of Nagaland from Foreign Affairs Ministry to Home? Yet we accepted it quietly because its significance was lost to us at that time. Remember the original funding pattern through Consolidated Fund of India being shifted to the regular funding norms? Yet again we were complacently unaware of the consequences. Our total State population does not even measure up to some municipal wards of Kolkata so when population criteria is taken into equation for almost all planned activity in the country where do we stand? Basking in our indifferent ignorance, does India propose to treat Article 371 (A) in the same callous disregard for the Nagas as human being unworthy of respect?
While the Chief Minister of Nagaland is not wrong in defining the civilised world being governed by the principle of "Right is might" and not "might is right", it is only applicable to the 'civilised world'. In the case of India "might is right" principle has been the applying yardstick in their dealing with the Naga issue all along. In their heart of hearts, India knows its history very well that Nagas have never been under any foreign yoke least of all India, from the beginning of time till the British Govt. arrived. The British also knew the injustice they had meted out to the Nagas but in their bigger troubled canvas the Nagas' cause was just another speck in the atmosphere their conscience was least bothered to acknowledge. “Might is right” has been the starting point of India and will continue to be so. Nagas have been reduced and have grown used to being a nonentity receiving the raw end of human injustice throughout history.
Maintaining civilised attitude towards perpetrators of uncivilised suppression of a race through draconian laws such as AFSPA does not quite even the scale of justice. So when India has no intention of dealing with the Nagas fairly, even within the bounds of a clear definition of our Constitutional rights concerning P&NG which has been acknowledged in the Parliament and then shamelessly withdrawn, where is the compulsion for the Nagas to be showing non-confrontational disposition?
Records would amply reveal that India only respects and recognizes aggressive stance for any tangible solution to be obtained in most circumstances and 'right is might' has been reduced more to a status of an exception than the norm in their normal functional system. It is just a cosmetic camouflage in a red light zone. Our traditional gentlemanly courtesy has been misread as weakness all along. Misinterpretation and misrepresentation of Article 371 (A) is no ordinary exercise on the part of the GoI. This is an extraordinary time needing an extraordinary response. We should therefore state our case as aggressively as the situation demands. Nagas' future identity, security, dignity and rights within the Indian Union depends on it.
What is frustrating is the lack of seriousness of the Naga not paying attention to our own well being in the matter of critical infrastructure in relation to our Customary Law edified in Article 371 (A). After 50 years we have still not been able Codify our Customary Laws or set up our Customary Courts in the systematic hierarchical placement. Even where constitutional provision has clearly been laid we have ourselves demeaned our status by our inaction. The Indian penal system is killer machinery that robs and disables the financially weaker sections of the society of equitable justice. As compared even in its rudimentary form, our customary courts dispense justice at a nominal or no cost at all. Our customary Courts have resolved many a vexing litigations that the High Courts or even the Supreme Courts had failed to adjudicate. With such a potential strength in our customary system we ourselves have undermined it to a shabby nothingness.
The Government of Nagaland should perhaps spend some quality time to study Article 371 (A) more comprehensively beyond P&NG, through a High Powered Technical Committee. As long as Article 371 (A) is left in its dormant state despite obvious potentialities in various aspects the uniqueness of our history that we harp about will never get exemplified or reinforced.
In my earlier writings I had emphasised on upgrading the ILP regulation to that of a Pass Port equivalent, handled by senior officers to ensure saner control of non-local population inflow into the State. The need to accentuate its importance is unnecessary. The harsh realities of Assam experience is a lesson begging to be learnt. The ruthlessness of our Politicians wanting to capitalise on this dangerous anomaly for their momentary electoral gains is disgusting. The demographic imbalance that is constantly evolving as the years go by will be the undoing of the Nagas and yet who is listening?
Just look at Meghalaya desperately fighting to achieve what we already have. Does it not tell us a story as to how anxious other people are where the value of their identity is concerned? Yet here we are unable to exercise our given rights uprightly and instead wallow in the corruptive application of it without a second thought. Given a systematic application of our rights as is provided in the Constitution, Nagas can salvage our pride of place and dignity in the community of mankind.
Suffice is to say that any lenient compromises and casual laxity shown in the interpretation of Article 371 (A) on the part of the Nagas in its dealings with GoI, would result in a earthquake to the magnitude of 9-10 in the Richter scale devastating the very foundry and future on which the State of Nagaland has been founded. We would be reduced to a second rate citizens for all times. We have earned our rights at an exorbitant cost of human lives. It should not be squandered lightly.
The writer is a retired IAS Officer
