Khekiye K. Sema
Let us first begin on a brutally candid note. India has thus far achieved to instil doubt and apprehension, distrust and insecurity in the minds of the Nagas. DOUBT: for having played unscrupulous ‘divide and rule’ political games with the Nagas for the past 69 long years with questionable integrity and sincerity towards finding a realistic solution; APPREHENSION: a deep rooted suspicion that India’s callous indifferent dealings with the Nagas is subconsciously being dictated by its comparative geographical and manpower advantage and its comfort option of nuclear arsenal capability to obliterate the Naga race from the face of the earth if it so chooses. If so, it would yet again be another costly error in judgement because when push really comes to shove Nagas would rather die fighting for their freedom than submit to an unjust foe as unequivocally exemplified in the mid 50’s. DISTRUST: due to absolute consistency of inherent contempt, disrespect and misconduct on the part of the Government of India by unilaterally violating the past agreements with the Nagas as a people even before the ink is dry e.g. (June 1947, Sir Akbar Hydari...9-Point Agreement); Non-fulfilment of an important clause even in the existing agreement entered into e.g. (16 Points agreement on ‘integration’; Unilaterally reverting Nagaland Affairs from Foreign Affairs Ministry to Home Affairs and quashing funding pattern to Nagaland from the Consolidated Fund of India). These events have only helped to vitiate and erode the level of trust in India as a sincere honourable Nation in the psyche of intellectual Nagas. INSECURITY: because of the escalating violent intolerance of Hindus supremacists like the RSS impudently taking the National stage under the condescending patronage of BJP Central Government at the helms against the minority communities and their religious beliefs. The amalgamated picture depicts a defenceless creature being cajoled to enter the lion’s den with an insincere assurance of safety without credibility.In absence of a healthy respect acknowledging the basic status of human beings as equals between two conflicting entities as a foundry, solution will remain a distant dream. In the context of Indo-Naga imbroglio, this elementary principle of human respect for the Nagas by Indians is unmistakably missing in a rather significant manner. From the very beginning the long frontier bordering India and Burma (now Myanmar), was defined as a ‘no-man’s land’ by no less a personality than Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, disdainfully writing off the natives who dwelt in this territory to a status of sub-humans. Nevertheless the so-called “No man’s Land” unambiguously leaves behind a recorded evidence that this territory did “not belong to India or Myanmar” as confirmed by Pdt. Nehru himself during the Couplan Plan review. When Christopher Columbus claimed discovery of America, the resident Native American Indians were left hopelessly perplexed with a very unpalatable question: “Who are we then?!” It is the same old analogy. This so called ‘no man’s land’ had human beings living in it but was nevertheless ruthlessly divided between India and Myanmar in the early 50’s without an atom of human recognition and respect for the inhabitants of this frontier. That human rights, views and sentiments of the defenceless people living in this long frontier did not merit consultation is amply exhibited. It induced an enormous human tragedy of separation within families, Clans and Tribes who woke up one fine morning to discover that their kith and kin have become foreigners. A clear edification of disrespect towards the Nagas by India and Myanmar can well be seen on the ground at Longwa village to this day. The arbitrary International boundary between India and Myanmar runs right through the centre of the Angh’s (Village Chief) residence and this gentleman crosses the International boundary every other minute without a passport or a visa.
Superiority complex of India nurtured through the comfort zone of military might have been dictating unequal terms to the Nagas devoid of human rights, human dignity and human understanding. When Nagas declared their Independence on the 14th August 1947, India grossly misread the situation and concluded that it was simply a case of a few educated Nagas instigated by foreign Missionaries fermenting a sentiment of independence that the masses knew nothing about. While being academic nonentities in the literary sense, Nagas were staunch graduates groomed through hardships of life’s experiences and steel- tempered by ‘Professor Nature’. Therefore, India could not comprehend that the rudimentary looking Nagas had a fierce sense of independence flowing in their bloodstreams across the board and would sacrifice their lives for freedom that they had otherwise inherently enjoyed over the centuries. This critical flaw in understanding led India to conclude that the insignificant movement of the Nagas for independence could be crushed in a few months time through their military might against ignorant unarmed civilian population. How tragically wrong could one get? This extremely costly miscalculation was perpetuated by the so-called “Intellectual Indians” at the helms of National affairs at that crucial time. They knew nothing about the people being confronted on the other side of the fence. They sadistically caused inhuman atrocities against the defenceless Nagas and sacrificed thousands of precious Indian and Naga lives on a misjudged myopic whim in the process.
After hard fought decades India has finally woken up to the ultimate truth and has planted its feet on ground reality by acknowledging the ‘unique history of the Nagas’ needing solution not through a military confrontation but through political discourse is a welcomed paradigm shift that all peace loving people applauds. It is the hope of the people of Nagaland that the “New Intellectual Indians” will have divorced the ‘Old’ habits of misjudgement and has their ears planted closer to the ground.
As an elder neighbour, it is incumbent upon India to sensibly learn instructive lessons from its past costly misadventure and act with honourable maturity by honestly understanding the core political sentiment of the Naga people with due respect to universal human rights. The first lesson that Government of India and the people of Mainland India needs to acknowledge with humility is that Nagas are not fighting a ‘Secessionist War’ against India. Historically, Nagas have never been a part of India so how does one secede from something one was never a part of? This is akin to a story of a small defenceless boy lovingly holding on to his ice cream in an ice cream parlour when along comes a mighty bully and snatches the ice cream away from him. This little boy knows for sure that he is no match for the physical prowess of the bully but his indomitable spirit refuses to be cowed down by the bully’s unjustifiable arrogance and lashes out regardless against this humiliating injustice perpetrated against him. It ought not to be too difficult for the intellectuals to discern who the bully might be and who...the boy. For the Nagas, this is purely a struggle for preservation of freedom as they knew it and owned it for centuries before the damnable effort of usurpation by a domineering neighbour wanting to eclipse that freedom of the weaker neighbour. The irony of this drama lies in the fact that India fought the Colonial British for the very same reason but chose to unscrupulously emulate the same colonial oppressors upon salvaging their own freedom.
Acknowledging the “unique history” of the Nagas is the first positive step towards conflict resolution and opting to find a solution to this vexed problem through an amicable negotiation rather than a military one is the icing. It is now of critical importance that India sees the problem through the prism of enlightenment by respecting the true spirit of the Nagas as human beings and as equals.
The Nagas of Nagaland with honourable principles see the “Framework Agreement” signed on 3rd August 2015 between GoI and the NSCN (IM) with an apprehensive sense of scepticism because of its non-transparent disposition. For a change, this is a momentous timeframe for India to sensitively understand the internal equations between the Tribes as never before if it sincerely wants to cross the bridge towards lasting peace. In the traditional past ‘bravery’ and ‘honour’ were two elementary values treasured and respected by our ancestors. Despite the moral erosion in the value system of the present Naga generation weakened by a different kind of head hunting called ‘easy money hunting’...deliberately and liberally injected by the GoI without accountability for a long term defilement of the Naga society ... those old values still holds true and forms a conscious basis of determining respect and trustworthiness of an individual or a Tribe. Admittedly NSCN (IM) is without doubt the predominant faction steering the negotiation. That the decision making upper echelon of this organization is dominated by the Tangkhul Tribe from Manipur under the iron clad control of Mr. Th. Muivah in the guise of a “Collective Leadership” is sufficiently clear beyond doubt. The absence of any worthwhile recognizable personality from other Naga Tribes of Nagaland within its fold tends to generate a great deal of subconscious discomfort. Mr. Isac Swu has thus far been the balancing scale and has performed his duty for his people with respectable honour under the circumstances. At his age however, he is now determinedly fighting an entirely different kind of a battle for personal survival induced by nature. With his active participatory capability in the ongoing negotiation with the GoI visibly reduced coupled with the troublesome lack of transparency in the framework agreement, the quantum of suspicion has multiplied and compounded exponentially. The unnerving question playing in everyone’s mind is whether this non-transparent negotiation is being tilted towards ‘Southern Naga solution’ at the cost of the Nagas of Nagaland? The historical fact that our Tangkhul brothers from Manipur joined the Naga National Movement (NNM) only after 1964 Cease Fire Agreement with the GoI, when extreme danger of the bloodiest period of sacrifices made by the Nagas of Nagaland was clearly over, lingers on in the memory of the Nagas. The fact that Nagas of Nagaland had failed to ignite the political consciousness amongst our Tangkhul brothers from the South despite sincere efforts made add to the overall distaste. Their wilful abstention from the NNM during the worst period of Naga National trials would go down as a despicable picture of “cowardice” in the parlance of Tribal honour. Even the fair minded Tangkhuls would honourably admit to this fact. Therefore, arrogantly sweeping their shabby past under the carpet and sanctimoniously dictating to the GoI from honourably and officially bringing those solely responsible for having initiated the NNM in the first place to the negotiating table is extremely distressful and difficult for any honourable Nagas of Nagaland to swallow. The Tribal sense of honour would also define such an attitude of NSCN (IM) as an embarrassing insult unless it redeems itself by actually bringing home sovereignty and integration...nothing more, nothing less... but are they? The “Opportunistic Endorsement” on the framework agreement committed by the Apex Organizations including the elected representatives (MLAs) without even knowing what it is all about, can never be considered a legitimate endorsement without first consulting the people who have helplessly/fearfully been cowed down by AK-47 and bludgeoned with their extortion in the name of ‘sovereignty tax’ all their lives. It is here that India must seriously recognise and analyse the deeper intricate background of faction ridden complications among the Tribes and the intrinsic value system that apply. I am inclined to state with all the conviction at my command that history will repeated itself if India gambles on NSCN (IM) being the sole proponent in ironing out this mess without formally bringing all the other factions on board before the final solution... especially if the twin issue of ‘sovereignty’ and ‘integration’ is not a part of the final settlement. Government of India must know that the philosophy of sovereignty as envisioned then by the Nagas in the 20th century has undergone a modicum of shift in the 21st century. Nagas are reasonably aware of the global village concept and perhaps not averse to the new concept of sovereignty as experienced in European. Nagas are not blind to a good neighbourly existence as long as their internal security, their economic welfare, their rights and their dignity as a people are inviolably guaranteed within a Federated relationship with India. This kind of conclusion can however be sustained only when a consensus endorsement of all the armed NPGs, barring none, is achieved. Despite sincere overture of the Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR) to reconcile all faction under one umbrella as equals, NSCN (IM) has adamantly walked away from this unity efforts. NSCN (IM) expects all the other NPGs to first confess their commissions before being allowed the privilege of joining them...as if they have not been guilty of any wrong doings themselves. In the absence of equality even within our own kitchen, Naga honour will never allow any NPG to approach this high arrogant pedestal without a loss of face and therefore FNR’s call for unity is a nonstarter. If GoI also concede a free hand to NSCN (IM) to non-transparently scuttle rational Tribal sensibility and balance it can only spell disaster. It is for the Government of India to make an enlightened call on this.
In conclusion I have often stated that if all the NPG factions are formally taken into confidence along with the NSCN (IM) in the negotiation, Nagas would celebrate full-heartedly even if they collectively bring home a chicken. For this to happen, the onus squarely rests with NSCN (IM) to bury their insufferable ego and open the door to mainstream platform of equality with the rest of the NPGs of Nagaland. This is the ultimate road to lasting peace and will conversely reduce the possibility of another bloody civil war in the aftermath.
