The history of the Nagas dating back to time immemorial is
clear that the Naga Territory is not a part of India either by conquest or
consent. Amongst the Indian authors, Murkot Ramunny, who was a distinguished
member of the (IFAS) Indian Frontier Administrative Service during “Pt.
Jawaharlal Nehru”, in his book titled “The World of Nagas”, quoted: The
presence of Indo-Mongoloids (which referred Naga) was noted ten centuries
before Christ at the time of compilation of the Vedas. One of the most
important aspects of Naga life is that each tribe has its own area of land.
In the past, when the Nagas were illiterate, it was the
Indians who wrote about the Nagas, of their unique history and situation which
has not disputed and doubted that the Nagas are ethnic people. The history also
clearly mentioned that the Naga villages were self sufficient, self reliant and
its governance was purely based on what can be described as “Naga democracy”,
functioning as individual units of sovereign village. Basing on its historical
fact, Nagas have every right to self determination. The British colonial ruled
in India by mistake misplaced the Nagas under Indian administrations when they
left India. However, Nagas never stoop down to the forced ruled and occupations
of their land, (but) resisted tooth and nail, leading to the armed confrontations
which claimed thousands of lives from both sides. Having fought for several
years and belated realisation of the futility of armed confrontations,
Government of India (GoI) (and the NSCN) declared ceasefire in 1997 for a
peaceful resolution to the decades old Naga issue. The ceasefire Agreement
read: that the talk shall be at the highest level, in the third country and
without any pre-conditions was appreciated by all the peace loving people with
the hope that the long-standing Naga issue might be resolved at the earliest.
When the talks were held in the third countries and the people were informed
about the progress of the talk, people were very happy to learn the signing of
the joint communiqué on July 11, 2002 in which the Government of India
officially recognised the unique history and situation of the Nagas. The
progress of the talk also achieved the signing of the Framework Agreement on
3rd August 2015, which clearly mentioned the Naga as separate entity, which
expression implies the Nagas are not Indians. Months after signing the
Framework Agreement, R.N. Ravi,the then
Interlocutor, himself came to Nagaland and held consultations with the Naga
civil societies and Tribal Hohos including the state Government led by the
Chief Minister and MPs on 8th December 2015 at the State Convention Hall. In a
mammoth gathering of all the stakeholders of the Nagas, R.N. Ravi said (1) that
the Naga political solution would be comprehensive and inclusive of all the
stakeholders (NPGs) and the Nagas; (2) That, the (GoI) Government of India is
talking with the NSCN-IM, but not for NSCN-IM alone, but NSCN understands more
and better of the positions clearer; (3) That, Prime Minister is determined to
resolve the Naga issue and said that the two entities shall be equal
partnership; (4) That, there shall be sharing of sovereign power between the
two entities;(5) That, there is no
question of small or big, but equal respect and honour. However, those sweet
words are all gone in the thin air.
Meanwhile, when the people were anxiously awaiting the
implementation of the “Framework Agreement”, another agreement called “Agreed
Position” appeared to confuse the people and polarised the issue. By signing
two agreements on one issue, Government of India’s policy of divide and rule
was revealed and given to understand that it has no political will to resolve
the Naga issue but to keep on dragging the “Talk of the Talk”. Today, people
are becoming increasingly impatient, sensing that the Naga political talk has
hit an uncertainty or deadlock, but as we embark on this journey towards
nationhood, we must draw aspiration from the sacrifices of those who have come
before us. We must not forget to honour the sacrificial acts of those
revolutionary groups who have fought and died for the Nagas freedom. The
present generation must take the lead to the end with what have been started in
the beginning.
The lofty word “Unity”: All the Naga population profess the
need of unity as it was universally aspired, but in contrary, if anybody
propagates the inclusive approach or broad outlook to Naga political solution,
he or she is branded as ‘Naga outsider’, no matter what the person is trying to
convey or from which tribe he belongs to. Unity is eluding the Naga society for
the last many years because of the facts that we only talk and wish to be, but
fail to set the common objective or roadmap on which basis unity can be
achieved. It is a fact that our forefathers were honest, sincere, simple and
respect one another, but today, our society is in turmoil due to the clash of
interest, as everybody knows everything to his/her finger tips and no need to
listen to what the others had to say. The Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR),
formed in 2008 by influential personalities, was primarily to unite the Naga
political groups so as to bring about an amicable solution to the decades-old
Naga issue. As entrusted by the people, “FNR” worked hard with all possible
efforts, subsiding factional clashes and bringing down the rate of killings
which deserved appreciations. The FNR’s attempt to unite all the factions was
to let the Naga Political Groups (NPGs) regain the confidence of the people so
that they may be able to resolve the decades-old Naga issue. However, instead
of appreciations, the “FNR” is blamed for not fulfilling the interest of either
of the groups, alleging that the unity move is a road-block to the Naga political
solution by accommodating more and more factions to the reconciliation
process.
Looking back at the events of unity move, the more we talk
about unity, the more divisions are taking place, to the extent of jeopardising
the Naga political solution. However, “unity” is a wish and voice of the
people, and therefore, every political group must try to appreciate the voice
of the people and try to come to a meeting point. To move forwards into a free
and self determined future, all the national political groups must release
themselves from the prison of the unresolved sinful and tragic burdens of the
past against one another that refuses to go away and seek forgiveness for the
wrongs they have inflicted. So long the Naga Political Groups remained divided,
Naga civil society will remain divided and there will be no solution howsoever
we talk of our rights. Whether the ongoing peace talk achieves the aspired goal
of Naga sovereignty or not, Naga history shall exist, therefore Nagas need to
come together for now to resolve the Naga issue. Many argue that the divisions
within the Naga political groups and civil organisations are the handiwork of
the enemy, but it is we who are unintentionally or unknowingly succumbing to
our enemy’s trap and aspirations. It is shameful to blame only others as if we
do not know where we have gone wrong.
