Kaka D. Iralu
The Indo-Naga Burmese conflict is not an internal Indian or Burmese conflict which started after India and Burma declared their respective independences on Aug. 15, 1947 and Jan. 4, 1948. Burmese historians as well as Naga historians know full well that Nagas were never a part of the Anawrahta or Alaungpaya kingdoms of Burma which existed from the 11th to the 18th centuries A.D. As far as India is concerned, late Jawaharlal Nehru himself had clearly stated that Naga territories were: “Those long frontiers of India which are neither part of India nor Burma, nor of Indian states nor of any foreign power.” As a historian himself, Nehru must have known that these Naga territories were put under “Excluded Areas” in the Indian Independence Act of 1935. As for the British Colonialists, this is what R.B. Pemberton wrote about the Nagas under the caption, “A singular race of people”: “Various attempts were made by the Raja of Manipur, Cachar and Trippera (Tripura) to reduce these savages to a state of vassalage, but uniformly without success. They steadfastly refused allegiance to either power.” (Nagas in the 19th century, Verrier Alwin, p. 42). This ancient and unconquered independence of the Nagas was formally declared on Aug. 14, 1947 (like any other modern nation states).
This official declaration of Naga independence was done by the Naga National Council (NNC) with the full mandate of the whole Naga nation. And this declaration of independence was done only over the ancient territories of “Naga inhabited lands.” This declaration is clearly stated in the Naga Yehzabo in Article 1. This solemn Naga national stand which had been defended by the blood of over a hundred thousand Naga lives over a period of 70 years can never be challenged or usurped by any Naga civil society or factions born after August 14, 1947. In this context, let every sane Naga understand that the Naga national stand was never for becoming a state under the Indian Union of 1947 or for a Shared Sovereignty status under the Constitution of India.
As all these historical, legal and political, facts show, Nagas are not asking India or Burma (or any ‘other foreign powers’) to grant them their independence. They are simply asking the U.N. and every other foreign power to recognize their declared independence which was officially sent to the U.N.O. Headquarters at Salt Lake, New York, on 14th August 1947.
All Nagas also must know that both India and Burma are desperately trying to by-pass these historical facts and make an internal settlement with some Naga desperados so that they can escape from the implications of invading another country and paying war damages (War indemnities) thereof. These war indemnities would run into billions and billions of Indian Rupees and Burmese Kyats. The real Indo-Naga-Burmese conflict is a geo-political invasion issue and any solution that ignores these geopolitical facts will ever bring a solution. After all, how can there be a solution and peace when the real issues of the conflict are not addressed?
