The British established their authority over the Naga Hills District in 1879, after the last Major Battle between the Nagas and the British in Khonoma. Never the less in most places, the Nagas remained free from British rule and were able to retain physical ownership of their Territories these were known as free Naga Territories which remained entirely self governing and Independent, even when India attained Independence from the British Empire in 1947. In due time, the British saw in all aspects the differences between the Nagas and the Hindu Kingdom in Assam and Imphal valley and they placed the Naga Territories under British rule as excluded Areas. Once relations with the British improved the Nagas were kept under a different system in which they were left to their own democratic structures of administration and Judiciary through village Council. During the period of British rule, Nagas were by and large on their own and continued their social, Economic and Political activities according to their own values and customs. One of the most detrimental consequences of British rule our Nagas home land in to different administrative units of Assam and Manipur, and subsequently, the division of the Nagas under two states, India and Burma. These boundaries were arbitrarily imposed without either consultation or the consent of the Naga People. During the First World War, the British recruited about 2000 Nagas as Manual Labour Corps for their army in France. When they returned, they helped from the Naga Club, the first organization in the Naga Hill in 1918. Nagas were Politically Conscious of their own future and did not want to be part of British India and British Burma. When Sir J.H. Hutton a British officer convened a meeting of Naga leaders to ascertain their wishes after the departure of British, the Nagas expressed their desire to be left alone just as the British found them at first. On the report of Sir Hutton , the John Simon Commission visited Kohima January 10, 1929. The Naga Club submitted a memorandum to the Simon Commission demanding that the Nagas be left alone to decide their own future and that their political status should revert to the Independence they enjoyed before the British came. The Memorandum concluded by saying we pray that we should not be thrust on the mercy of the people who could never have conquered us themselves , and to whom were never subjected, but to leave us alone to determine for ourselves as in Ancient Times. The Nagas were then grouped as an excluded Area and given a certain degree of self rule. Sir Robert Reid to form part of a Crown Colony. The British India government however strongly countered this proposal and demanded that they retain Control Over Naga Territories. The second World War had a profound impact on the Nagas and it was in Kohima that a decisive defeat of Japan by the Allied Forces took place. With the end of the and the approach of Independence from colonial rule, the question of the Naga future gained momentum. Determine to decide their own future; the Nagas in 1946 formed the Naga National Council (NNC) a political organization, described as a natural extension of the Traditional System of the Naga Village/Tribe to the ultimate scale the whole of the Nagas. In order to avoid acrimony, the NNC in a February 20, 1947 Memorandum to the British government and British India government requested an interim Government for themselves and proposed a protected State Status with India as a guardian power for an interim period of ten years at the end of which the Nagas would be left to decide their political future. At the Twilight of the British rule in June 1947, the British India Government represented by Sir Akbar Hydari, then the Governor of Assam entered into an agreement with the NNC known as the Nine Point Agreement or the Hydari Agreement, it recognized the NNC as the sole national political authority of the Nagas with complete authority over its land, resources and powers in Administration, Judiciary , Agriculture, Education and Legislative matters, the agreement further recognized the Assam Governor as the agent of the Government of India having special responsibility for ten years to ensure the due observance of the agreement. At the end of ten years the NNC could extend the agreement for another period, or enter into a new agreement regarding the future of the Naga People. Within days of signing the Nine Point agreement , the Indian Constituent Assembly unilaterally by passed the principles of the agreement while simultaneously, Indian Armed Forces were preparing to invade the Naga Home Land. Sir Akbar Hydari then warned the Naga delegates that if they refused to join the Indian union, India would use force against them. The NNC leaders turned to Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the Indian Nation, and discussed with him the emerging developments that threatened the possibilities of a peaceful agreement for Indo-Naga relationship on the 19th July 1947, Mahatma Gandhi told the Naga delegates. Nagas have every right to be independent we did not want to live under the domination of the British and they are now leaving us. I want you to feel that India is yours. I feel that the Naga Hill are mine just as much as they are yours. But if you say it is not mine than the matter must stop there. I believe in the Brother Hood of man, but I do not believe in force or in forced unions. If you do not wish to join the union of India, nobody will force you to do that. When the Naga delegates pointed out that Sir Akbar Hydari was threatening the Nagas to forcefully join the Indian union Gandhi responded Sir Akbar is wrong, He cannot do that . I will come to the Naga Hills, I will ask them to shoot me first before one Naga is shot unfortunately the ruling elites in the Government of India were determined to use force to bring the Nagas into submission. Tragically Gandhi was assassinated for his beliefs, but in his death a path of his vision in Non-Violence and Truth inspired the Nagas to withstand the test of the time. Not wanting to accept any form of Foreign domination, alien subjugation and exploitation, the Nagas in the Naga Hill District formally declared their Independence on August 14, 1947 form British rule, and subsequently merged with the Free Naga Territories. Together the Naga Territories constitute Naga Home Land. Nagalim the declaration of Naga Independence State that Nagas were reclaiming the Status they held as an Independent people before the British came. The declaration was sent to the King of England, the Government of India and to the Secretary General of the United Nations. The Naga People had never been part of what today constitutes the Indian union. The Government of India ignored the desire of the Naga to be Independent and continued to set up its State machinery in the Naga Home Land. In an attempt to great fear within the Naga people the Indian Army Started arresting and imprisoning Naga Political leaders. In an effort to appeal to reason the Naga leaders met the Governor General of India Union C.Rajagopal Lachari on Nov 28, 1948 to convey the resentment of the Naga people at the way India was trying to subdue them. The Governor-General assured them India wants to be friendly with you. India does not want to deprive Naga of their land. Nagas are at liberty to do as they like, either to become part of India or be separated if it would be best for their interests to be isolated. As a Historical step in strengthening the Naga Movement the NNC took a critical decision to organize a Naga voluntary Plebiscite and informed the Government of India on January 1, 1951 of their intentions the plebiscite was held on may 16th 1951. The result tabulated eventually in March 1952, was a 99.9% vote for a sovereign Independent Naga State. An NNC delegation met the Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru on March 11, 1952 to convey the sovereign will of the Naga people for an Independent Naga State expressed through the Naga voluntary plebiscite. The Government of India however ignored the Naga decisions and determined to impose itself on the Nagas. It went ahead in preparing to impose Indian State Elections on the Nagas in 1952. Through civil disobedience the Nagas launched a Peaceful Movement they refused to pay taxes boycotted Government staff and Schools, set up Naga National Schools, and boycotted the Indian State Elections on Nagas in 1957 and thereafter, the Government of India responded to all of this by stepping up Military repression. In spite of repeated attempts at every opportunity by the Nagas to seek a peaceful solution with Indian through political understanding and respect, the Government of India failed to reciprocate such sincere and honest attempts. Rather than seeking to address the Naga People through political and diplomatic means, it chose the path of militarization and use of force to try and crush the Naga people spirit and desire to decide their own political destiny. The first Naga casualty at the bullets of the Indian Armed Forces was on October 18, 1952. Since the end of 1953, the Naga areas have become embattled. In an effort to monitor Indian Military Policy, the NNC, on March 22, 1956 proclaimed the establishment of the Federal Government of Nagaland (FGN) they formed a constitution the preamble of which began Nagaland is a People Sovereign Republic, this has been to from time immemorial. It was only after the Indian Government had rejected all possible means offered by the NNC to open a dialogue to discuss the future of the Indo-Naga relations that the NNC was forced to take up arms the NNC formed wing called the Naga Home Guards, which later become the Naga Army. By 1956 the Indian Army had occupied a number of important Naga Town and villages. The former Indian Director of Intelligence Bureau, BN Mullik stated that there was a time when one Indian Security troop for every adult male Naga, but there never was a time when it could be claimed that the Naga guerrillas had been broken into submission. They suffered terrible privation and casualties but did not give in. Between 1956 and 1964 there were not less than 1,50,000 Naga casualties mostly civilians . Sir Charles Pawsey, after a visit to Nagaland, said that the Indian Army’s behavior will never be forgotten or forgiven. Until the signing of the shillong Accord in 1975, the Naga National Council remained the sole political organization to represent the Naga people and their aspirations to live as Independent Sovereign Republic. However with the un mandated signing of the Shillong Accord by its members fundamental issues arose questioning the manner in which the NNC dealt with the crisis and its subsequent role in representing and realizing Naga Rights. With the outright rejection of the Shillong Accord by the Naga it was expressed that NNC could no longer represent the NAGA Movement because of its failure to adequately denounce and distance itself from the Shillong Accord the silent opposition to the Shillong Accord turned to active support for the Naga resistance movement . After having escaped death and persecution from the Accordists Isak Chishi Swu, Th.Muivah and Khaplang organized themselves to continue pursuing the rights of the Nagas and they formed the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN) on January 31,1980 with Isak Swu as Chairman, Th.Muivah as General Secretary the NSCN received a setback in 1988 when Khaplang along with some of his men attacked the NSCN. He was expelled from the NSCN on November 7, 1989, Khaplang than established his own organization known by the same name NSCN to distinguish the two group journalists have often referred to them by their leaders initials; NSCN-IM and NSCN-K continues to the present but has played little role in International Political Spheres. However, the NSCN under Isak Swu and T.H. Muivah has established itself as the politically legitimate resistance organization carrying the historical and natural rights of the Nagas. Today it is the foremost revolutionary organization in this geopolitical region and has consolidated vital political and varying tactical relationships with the struggles of other people. Following the United Nations declaration of the International year of indigenous peoples in 1993, the NSCN began participation in the various United Nation Organizations, such as its working group of indigenous population, the Commission on Human Rights and the Sub-Commission on the prevention of discrimination and the protection of Minorities raising issues of gross human rights violation, discrimination etc. In the mid-1990’s, after more than four decades of isolation, the Naga People began to get some respectable attention in these forms, especially in letting ,the International Community known of human rights violation being perpetuated by the Indian Government against the Nagas. On January 23, 1993 the NSCN was admitted as the representative of the Nagas to the Unrepresented Nations and peoples Organization (UNPO) and the Naga National Flag was hoisted at the UNPO office in the Hague (Netherlands). Naga Civil Societies Organizations such as Naga Hoho, Naga Student’s Federation, Naga Peoples Movement for Human Rights, Naga Mothers Association, Naga Woman Union and Naga Churches have been largely responsible for creating awareness and educating the international community including Indian Civil Society organization on the Naga people and their struggle for their rights. Against all odds, these organization have let the international community know that the Indo-Naga issue is not Indian’s internal problem of law and order; but an unresolved political issue with geo-political implication requiring political negotiation for a peaceful solution. It is through their efforts and endeavors that Naga have reached out to the world and fostered relationship with them in the effort for Naga to live in dignity and peace. Yet another opportunity to resolve the Indo-Naga political line through peaceful means was shredded. It would take another 33 years and the loss of thousands of lives before the Government of India and the Naga Movement entered into a bi-lateral ceasefire agreement in 1997.
i). Without any condition
ii). At the Prime Minister’s level
iii). In a third country
1. On the 12 June 1995 in Paris, France: The NSCN Collective Leadership met late Mr. P. V. Narashimha Rao: He said, “ I believe in political solution. We must solve the problem through political talks and dialogue., We should be patient and tolerant in tackling the problem”.
2. On 3rd February 1997; The NSCN Collective Leadership met H.D.Deve Gowda in Zurich, Switzerland. Deve Gowda said, “ We believe in peaceful means. We must seek peaceful political solution.”
3.On 30th September 1998: The NSCN Collective Leadership met A.B.Vajpayee in Paris, France. Vajpayee said, “ I believe in peaceful Political solution; Violence and military solution is ruled out. We must seek political solution because it is a political issue”.
4. On 8th December 2002: The NSCN Leader met A.B. Vajpayee in Osaka, Japan. He said, “ We are serious, we must solve the problem by peaceful means. We must have patience”.
5. On 10th January 2003: Meeting with A.B Vajpayee in New Delhi, India. Vajpayee assured to the Naga delegation headed by the Collective Leadership, “ Peace process will continue. A new chapter is going to be opened”.
6. On 7th December 2004: Meeting with Dr.Manmohan Singh in New Delhi, India. He said to the NAga delegation headed by the Collective Leadership, “We are equally keen to work out mutually acceptable honorable solution. We will be sincere in tackling the problem. We will give our utmost effort to hammer out honorable solution. We will explore jointly every possible way to bring solution. Yes, it has to be brought mutual discussion and understanding so that solution acceptable to both parties is arrived at.
7. On 9th February 2005: Meeting with Dr. Manmahon Singh in New Delhi, India. PM. said to the Naga delegation headed by the Collective Leadership, “I have deputed three ministers to talk with you. We are sincere and serious we could solve the problem. The pattern of relationship should be worked out”.
8. On June 24, 2005: Th.Muivah, the Chief Negotiator met Dr. Manmahon Singh in New Delhi at his office residence. The meeting was one to one talk between Chief Negotiator and Prime Minister: P.M said, “We are serious, sincere and have confidence that we could solve the problem through peaceful means. You have to be patient with us. We have started taking every positive step. We do not under rate your issue. This is our assurance”
In spite of the progress made, the fragility of the peace process continues to be tested at all level and demands immense wisdom and integrity from both sides. The Naga Civil Societies and traditional organizations supporting the Peace Process have continued to seek opportunities and initiatives to strengthen political negotiations for a democratic and honorable settlement. The NSCN has also taken initiative to hold consultations with Naga Civil Societies representative including all the Naga tribal Councils and Churches. In the consultations with the NSCN, the Naga Civil Societies has extended its full support to the ongoing Peace Process between India and NSCN. The NSCN in return has made a clarion call to every Naga, Irrespective of their past and standing , to participate in the peace process. The consultations are an ongoing process to deepen the understanding between the NSCN and Naga civil society and to ensure that, the NSCN embodies the fullest aspiration and rights of the Naga while negotiating with India. It is also the expressed will and desire of the Naga for their ancestral land to be united once more into ONE geo-political entity- Nagalim. Nagas live on their own land that belongs to them nothing less than that, nothing more than that! Nagas have lived in these territories from time immemorial. These are not claims but facts. The aspiration of the Nagas to live together is nothing unusual but natural. Nagas will certainly continue to live in their lands forever, but it is also a, historical fact that Nagalim has been kept divided arbitrarily by the British and the Indian State. The Nagas, for the fullest realization of their identity and rights, therefore desire the unification of their land which is at the heart of their existence. It implies the desired will of the Nagas to have the freedom to decide the fate of their own destiny.
