With
undeserved blessings of the Christian God, Most High; the Naga today has
developed their mind-set to one People Group of the world and have most of the
requirements of their political history, conditions and rights for a Nation;
except a common compact State Territory of their own.
The
Naga Tribe is spread over all the four States of the North East India:
Nagaland, Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh; and in upper Burma (now
Myanmar) adjacent to the length of the State Nagaland of several groups of Naga
tribes united today as Tangsha and more areas of other Naga tribes.
In
Manipur, some half a dozen Naga tribes form a significant minority population
of the State dominated by non-tribal Mongolian Meitei community converted to
Hinduism in the previous centuries of the ancient Kingdom of Manipur.
In
Assam, a small minority of Zeliang ans Rongmei Nagas inhabit the Silchar and
Cachar areas hopelessly dominated by the non-tribal Assamese and very many
other peoples.
In
Arunachal Pradesh of erstwhile North East Frontier Agency, NEFA, despite one of
the first Indian States to adopt India’s “Freedom of Religion” Bill in 1976;
the whole one division of four belong to Naga tribes, now vast turning
Christian from animism, though forming an even lesser population dominated by
diverse other lingual non-Naga populations of the Pradesh.
The
three Naga areas in the three States are separate from each other but each is
adjacent to Nagaland State, and share land connection with the State of
Nagaland, the only State wholly of native Naga State of India.
There
are Konyaks, collective Naga tribes of Tangsha, the Khiamniungans, the Makwars,
Tikhir and Chirs, both in Nagaland and Myanmar next to each other, and sometime
the same native Naga architectural house is divided into two different Nations
of India and Burma by an invisible Inter-National boundary line.
The
State of Nagaland alone touches all Naga areas of some different States of the
Northeast, and even that of Myanmar. Without Nagaland State, the Naga areas of
various North-eastern States can never become a compact Naga area; Nagaland
State alone forms the lone completely dominant Naga State of India; the other
Naga areas are separated from each other in different States without land
connection between them and dominated by Non-Naga people.
Providentially,
Nagaland State is already a separate Naga State of India with special
Constitution provision of Article 371-A of the Constitution of India not
available to most other States of India:-
(1) Notwithstanding anything in this
Constitution,
(a) no Act of Parliament in respect of,
(i) religious or social practices of the Naga,
(ii) Naga customary law and procedures,
(iii)
Administration of civil and criminal justice involving decisions according to
Naga customary law,
(iv) ownership and transfer of land and its
resources, shall apply to the State of Nagaland unless the Legislative Assembly
of Nagaland by a resolution so decides.
The
phrases “notwithstanding anything in this Constitution” and “land and its
resources” in the Article 371-A of the Constitution of India are unusual
extra-ordinary terms of provisions to the State of Nagaland, not available to
other States of India.
The
State of Nagaland and its Native indigenous people have historical, cultural,
racial pre-requisite rights and conditions of an independent people India knows
in its own heart. The Nagas didn’t and don’t form integral part of India
racially, culturally or historically and didn’t participate in the history of
Indian civilisation. From pre-India Independent times, Naga Hills never formed
integral part of other kingdoms; it did not participated in any of the
movements of Mahatma Gandhi for Indian Independence. The Nagas today are
citizens of the democratic Republic of India, but they are not Hindu Indian;
they are simply Naga Tribe.
The
Treaty of Yandabo Feb. 24, 1826 with Supplementary Treaties for Assam and
Manipur did not include the Naga country and Arunachal Pradesh (erstwhile
Northeast Frontier Agency). The Naga Hills was formed only in 1847 from ‘Naga
Country’ and the Naga area of Arunachal also, never before, formed part of the
history of Indian Civilisation. Unlike other peoples; and customarily being not
under any Raja or Princely State, the Naga Hills had never entered into “any
Treaty Engagements with the British.” [Treaties, Agreements & Sanads of the
British], the Naga Hills formed a “completely Excluded Area”, not “partly
excluded” from the Legislative Assembly of Assam, in the re-organization of
India Act 1935.
The
Naga Country formed the ‘Naga Hills’ and as early as 1873, the ‘Inner line
Regulation of Bengal 1873’ prohibited entry into the Naga Hills of any
outsiders without an “Inner line” Permit from the colonial Government. This
Regulation is still valid in Nagaland State today and testifies the area’s
separateness from other areas of India.
As
far back as 1924, Mahatma Gandhi, insisted for a Constitution of India written
by Indians alone, not by people from ‘Outside’, and Naga Hills on January 10
1929 submitted a written Memorandum to the Simon Commission that visited
Kohima, demanding ‘Naga Hills be left alone as it was before the white man came
to our land’ and that they never asked for any Reformation.
The
Governor of Assam with full plenipotentiary powers, representing the President
of India and on assurance given by the Naga National Council leaders that the
Naga would not join Pakistan, on a meeting held at Kohima in early 1947, entered
into a 9-Point Agreement with Naga National Council, NNC, for a period of 10
years, after which the Naga would be free to decide their future themselves.
Shortly
after, rumours reached the Nagas that India wouldn’t follow the Agreement.
Therefore on August 14, 1947, the Naga National Council sent Telegrams to India
not to consider the Naga Hills included in the Indian Union unless the 9-Point
is followed completely to the Letter, and refused to participate in the
Constitution Assembly. Three years after, on 16th May 1951, the NNC conducted a
peaceful Plebiscite in which the Naga overwhelmingly opted for life outside
Indian Union.
Independent
India conducted its first General Election in early spring of 1952; the Naga
Hills completely boycotted the Election; this writer, perhaps the last
surviving Polling Assistant of that Election at Cheswezouma Dak Bungalow
Polling Station, poignantly remembers: not a single person steered in the
village that day; not a single dog barked; not a single cock crowed; the silence
of that day seemed even to have weight!
The
NNC 9-Point Agreement between Sir Akbar Hyder Ali Governor of Assam, Premier
Gopinath Bordoloi of Assam and Naga National Council in 1947, has the merger of
Adjacent Naga areas in other areas with Naga Hills included, but ultimately GoI
did not implement it. The Negotiating Body of Naga Peoples Convention in 1960,
in its 16-Point proposal for Agreement included the 9-Point Integration demand;
Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru agreed inclusion of Tuensang-Mon area of
North Eastern Frontier Agency, NEFA to Nagaland and form NAGA HILLS-TUENSANG
AREA, NHTA, an Administrative Unit, but expressed difficulties for inclusion of
Adjacent Naga Areas in Assam and in Manipur to Nagaland.
Yet,
GoI bifurcated oversized, over populated half a dozen big Indian States, to
form Tribal States of CHHATTISGARH and JHARKHAND States on demand of the Tribal
and in consent to all the involved States.
India
has a very big population of ancient tribes in the vast Central India region of
poorly educated, under-developed SCHEDULED TRIBES. The tribes are spread over
more than half a dozen States: Madhya Pradesh in the West to Bengal in the
East; Maharashtra, Karnataka in the South through Odisha, Bihar to Uttar
Pradesh in the North, numbering more than 8,59,00,000. They demanded separation
from the advanced areas in the States to one of their own in their own land.
The
States being bifurcated raised no objections to the bifurcations; many educated
Indian citizens even expressed the need for bifurcation of the overpopulated
oversized States like Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh etc., each of which even
were bigger and more populous than quite a few European nations put together.
The
Government of India, out of necessity, separated the tribal area into new
states of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand for faster and more progressiveness
development of the area and the people.
Today,
it is unlikely GoI would cut out the Naga areas from Manipur, Assam and
Arunachal of the Northeast India and merge them with Nagaland State without the
consent of Nagas of those states demanding the merger and those opposing; the
Chief Minister of the states have made strong opposition to the proposal and
declared not an inch of their state lands would be given to Nagaland; Nagaland
Assembly has passed resolution four times for the ‘integration’.
On
the attainment of Naga Hills into the 16th State of India, Chief Minister Shilu
Ao personally sent Chiten Jamir, one of his ministers to Imphal to find out
whether the Naga of Manipur would like to be in Nagaland or not. The Chief
Commissioner of Manipur then, Mr. BL Kampani, gathered the leaders of Manipur
Naga in Ukhrul in a Meeting and discussed the issue; the Naga leaders of
Manipur declined to be with Nagaland and that they would prefer to stay in
Manipur.
The
Assembly of Nagaland passed resolutions four separate times for integration of
Naga areas adjacent to its State be integrated with Nagaland but GoI did not
take any action and the Naga of Manipur did not take the subject in
seriousness.
Neither
the NSCN(IM) Framework Agreement with Prime Minister Modi, through his
personally appointed Interlocutor Governor RN Ravi of Nagaland, has mentioned
about the Integration Issue nor the NNPG’s in their 17 November 2017 ‘Agreed
Position’ with the GoI has mentioned the subject.
Therefore,
in the case of the Nagas today, the GoI is unlikely to do what it has not
during the time of the formation of the State of Nagaland with “Special
Constitution provisions”.
Today,
the majority of the civil population of Nagas have lost their respect and
confidence with the Naga National Groups because of their prolonged many
undesirable actions on the civilian Nagas and non-Naga citizens of the State
almost everywhere, any time. The NSCN with their superior arms have not done
much of anything to enhance the dignity and honour; they degraded the Naga
value of sanctity of life, friend or foe of the Naga. The Nagas have customary
magnanimity of pardon of even the enemy much before the idea came to them with
the Gospel of Jesus: No National Worker or Leader degrading the value of honour
of the Naga people can ever hope the support at grassroot level.
The
GoI would not compel the State with non-Naga majority population to consent to
the demands of the minority Naga population in the State, unless the law of
democracy supports the demand: The position of the GoI on this is
understandable and fair.
The
GoI knows the Nagas of Nagaland would not share their special constitutional
provisions with Nagas of outside and it is not possible for the Nagas of
outside to bring their land for merger with Nagaland. Thus India is not unhappy
with the status quo!
Nagaland
has not prevented Nagas of outside to come to the State and hence Nagas of
outside with arms easily could come and could do unlawful activities in
Nagaland; it is unfortunate the GoI has made Ceasefire Agreements increasingly
with 26 armed groups so far! This is the reason why the Nagas of Nagaland
suspect the intensions of GoI. The people look at the GoI’s lavish grants and
its VIP’s frequent visit to Nagaland.
There
appears no innovative alternative in the Naga National Political Groups today
to ever change the value system of the Naga movement; it still is stuck under
the dome of Indian mind set, not on Naga mind set of stand for truth. In this
state, it may take them more time than China to become democratic, or India to
eliminate the Naxalites, who 60 years ago, in 1965, started their struggle for
their land in the forest of a small village in Naxalbari in Darjeeling district
of West Bengal; and today, at every election victory, the Minister-in-waiting
in Delhi, solemnly promises to eliminate the Naxalites completely from India
the following year, which never comes!
