KOHIMA/DIMAPUR — Nagaland’s 2024 was defined
by significant political events, including two landmark elections, ongoing
discussions regarding the Frontier Nagaland Territory (FNT), and the unresolved
Naga political issue.
The year saw two prominent elections — the Lok Sabha and
urban local body polls. Both were historic: the Lok Sabha election marked the
Congress party’s ascension to the lone seat after a 20-year gap, and the civic
polls, which included 33% reservation for women for the first time, were held
after two decades. The previous municipal election in Nagaland (except
Mokokchung) was conducted without reservation for women in 2004.
The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee candidate, S
Supongmeren Jamir, was elected to the lone Lok Sabha seat after a 20-year gap.
The last Congress MP was K Asungba Sangtam, who served from 1998 to 2004. With
the implementation of seat reservation, 103 women, including eight from
unreserved wards, emerged victorious out of 248 total seats.
This year, both the parliamentary election and civic polls
were held without participation from the six eastern Nagaland districts of
Kiphire, Mon, Tuensang, Longleng, Noklak, and Shamator, where the Eastern
Nagaland Peoples’ Organisation (ENPO) had called for total abstention from all
state and national elections to protest the delay in FNT creation.
However, by mid-December, the ENPO acknowledged challenges
faced by the Centre in granting statehood and decided to “temporarily accept”
the government’s offer for FNT, which would include “executive, legislative,
and financial autonomy.”
Following a tripartite meeting on December 13, the ENPO
announced “significant progress” in negotiations, with the next round of talks
scheduled for the second week of January 2025 to discuss “some unresolved
issues.”
It also clarified that acceptance of the proposal does not
mean it has given up the demand for a “separate state of Frontier Nagaland.”
While there was progress in the FNT issue, the broader Naga
political impasse continued.
In November, NSCN (IM) General Secretary and Ato Kilonser
Th. Muivah accused the Centre of betraying the 2015 Framework Agreement by
refusing to acknowledge the Nagalim national flag and constitution.
Muivah proposed third-party intervention to resolve the stalemate,
warning that “if such a political initiative is rejected by the GoI, the NSCN
shall resume the violent armed resistance against India for defending the
Nagalim unique history and her sovereign existence.”
The Working Committee of the Naga National Political Groups
(WC, NNPG), which signed the 2017 Agreed Position, also faced internal
challenges, with key leaders like N Kitovi Zhimomi and Zhopra Vero impeached
from their respective groups for alleged indiscipline and financial misconduct.
Neither the Centre nor its interlocutor commented on these
developments.
Amid these disruptions, the state government convened a
consultative meeting in September, which resulted in the demand for a
“ministerial-level interlocutor” for the Naga peace talks.
The meeting included tribal organisations, civil society
representatives, church leaders, political parties, and government officials,
as well as the Political Consultative Committee (PCC) headed by the chief
minister along with his council of ministers and the state’s two MPs.
At the time, government spokesperson KG Kenye had said that
the current interlocutor, AK Mishra, was appointed only as a representative of
the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
The state government believes that appointing an
interlocutor at the Union Minister level would be a positive step, he said.
Another issue that made headlines was the Centre’s decision
to scrap the Free Movement Regime (FMR), which allows citizens of India and
Myanmar living near the borders to venture 16 km into each other’s territory
without any documents.
While the Union Home Minister had said that the decision was
taken to ensure the country’s security and also the demography of north-eastern
states, the move, along with the decision to fence the border, faced backlash
in Nagaland, which shares a 215 km border with Myanmar. The 60-member Nagaland
Legislative Assembly (NLA) also adopted a unanimous resolution urging the
centre to reconsider the decision.
As of December 26, the notification ending the FMR is yet to
be notified by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), according to a report
published by The Hindu.
Additionally, the MHA reinstated the Protected Area Regime
or Protected Area Permit (PAP) in the states of Nagaland, Manipur, and Mizoram,
citing security concerns arising out of an influx from neighbouring countries.
Natural disasters took a heavy toll on the state in 2024,
claiming at least a dozen lives. A cloudburst along National Highway-29 between
Kohima and Dimapur killed six people in a single night, while landslides, flash
floods, and lightning strikes added to the devastation. Road connectivity and
normal life were severely disrupted for weeks.
In a significant ruling, the Supreme Court in September
closed criminal proceedings against Army personnel involved in the 2021 botched
counter-insurgency operation that killed 13 civilians in Oting, Mon district.
However, the Court added a crucial caveat that the case may
be revived if the central government ultimately grants sanction to prosecute.
“We make it clear that if such a situation arises, at any
stage of sanction being granted under Section 6 of the AFSP Act, 1958, the
proceedings pursuant to the impugned FIRs would continue according to law and
may take their own course as provided under law,” the judgment stated.
Meanwhile, an attempted auction of a “19th-century horned
Naga human skull” at a UK auction house in October sparked concerns of colonial
exploitation and insensitivity towards Indigenous heritage.
The skull, advertised as a unique collector’s item by Swan
Fine Art at Tetsworth, Oxfordshire, was slated to go under the hammer on
October 9, with an estimated price tag of GBP 3,500-4,000.
The controversy came amidst ongoing efforts between the
Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR), the Recover, Restore and Decolonise Team
(RRaD), and Oxford University’s Pitt Rivers Museum (PRM) regarding the
repatriation of Naga ancestral remains.
Several individuals, including Naga anthropologist Dolly
Kikon; FNR Convenor Rev. Dr. Wati Aier; Director at PRM, Laura Van Broekhoven,
as well as Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, urged a halt to the “completely
unethical” auction, which “continues the policy of dehumanisation and colonial
violence on the Naga people.”
The 25th edition of the Hornbill Festival saw record
attendance with over 2 lakh visitors as per official data—a 33% increase from
the previous year. The state government allocated INR 100 crore for
infrastructural upgrades at the Naga Heritage Village in Kisama, the central
venue.
Further, Nagaland’s Hokato Hotozhe Sema made history as the
state’s first Paralympian medallist, securing a bronze for India at the 2024
Paris Paralympics.
