‘The vast majority of Nagas are proud Indians’

During the British colonial days, India was divided haphazardly. There was the presidency of Bengal, which then comprised present day West Bengal, Bangladesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa. The presidencies of Madras and Bombay were also big entities. But these provinces could not fulfil the political aspirations of the diverse groups of people living within their boundaries. Thus, when India became independent, the government decided to reorganise states (provinces) on linguistic lines. The underlying premise was that language was the basic factor for determination of a community. Now the division of India on linguistic lines is more or less complete. The recent creations of Uttaranchal, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh were done mainly to fulfil tribal aspirations. Assam was split again and again to carve out Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram.

If language is the basis for identification of a nation or a community, the Naga nation does not exist. The Semas, the Aos, the Lothas, the Angamis and other tribes of Nagaland speak different dialects. They cannot communicate with one another. So when the British administered the erstwhile Naga Hills district of Assam, Nagamese language — a concoction of Assamese and Hindi — developed, and this is the lingua franca (sans a script) of Nagaland now. Even so, everyone hopes that Nagamese will bind the Nagas together.

The term Naga is a generic term, an appellation for all tribes inhabiting the Patkai and Barail range of hills. Even the Nagas of Nagaland did not know that they were called Nagas. Lt. G.F.F. Vincent, acting junior assistant commissioner on special duty, Angami Naga Hills, writing to his principal assistant commissioner at Nowgong, Capt. John Butler, on September 10, 1850 described how he was surprised to find the people called “Angamee Nagas” totally ignorant of the significance of the term. In fact, there is no community or nation called Naga. It is like terming all South Indians Madrasis. In a pamphlet called Bedrock of Naga society, the Nagas themselves accepted that they were a group of heterogeneous, primitive and diverse tribes living in far-flung villages, who had very little in common and had negligible contact with each other. Each village was practically an entity in itself. In the circumstances, the question of a unified “Naga nation” did not arise, the pamphlet declared.

Therefore, the existence of a Naga nation is a myth. The Naga nation simply does not exist. However, the term Naga may be used to identify all tribes of Nagaland and establish a Naga identity, just like the establishment of Meghalayan, Arunachali and Jharkhandi identities.

A peace mission, comprising Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan, Bimla Prasad Chaliha and Rev. Michael Scott had attempted to usher in peace in 1964. In the 16-point proposal of the peace mission, the Nagaland federal delegation claimed that the “Nagas had never been conquered by the Indian army or ruled by an Indian government although territory had been forcibly annexed by the British army, about a century ago. Nevertheless, their right to self-determination belonged to them which India herself demanded under the historic slogan of Swaraj”.

The peace mission explained that Nagaland formed an integral part of India before 1947 and that with the transfer of power to India, Nagaland became part of India in the same way as all other states of India. At the same time, the Government of India had already accepted the need for granting full autonomy to Nagaland by constituting the state of Nagaland so as to ensure the fullest development of the Nagas. Accordingly, the Nagas are not ruled by any alien power but are ruling themselves. The usual cry of suppression by India is simply an excuse.

The vast majority of Nagas are proud Indians. Many Naga officers and men of the Indian army had sacrificed and are still sacrificing their lives for India, winning gallantry awards in Kargil battlefields and elsewhere. Elections under the Constitution of India have been taking place regularly. The recent (February 2003) elections in Nagaland with a turnout of 70 per cent is testimony of the people’s enthusiastic participation in Indian democracy. The sooner the rebels understand the ground realities, the better for conclusion of the peace talks.

The NSCN (I-M) is an inspired organisation with lot of foreign support and sympathisers at home. They have a set goal. India’s approach in dealing with them should be guided by national interest alone.

The NSCN (I-M) leaders declared that they would never give up arms, freedom and territory. Then where will the talks lead? Can India agree to a greater Nagalim now within India, with NSCN (I-M) warlords roaming freely with their armed cadres as escort? What is happening in Afghanistan will be repeated in Nagaland. The NSCN (I-M) has said that it is not extorting money but collecting taxes. Is it a parallel government then?

Ultimately India may lose the entire Northeast. The substantive issues are arms, freedom and territory. It is time the government and the people realised this.

The NSCN (I-M) does not have the mandate to speak on behalf of all Nagas. Moreover, for the solution of the same Naga problem there cannot be one agreement with the NSCN (I-M), another with the present Democratic Alliance of Nagaland government, a separate one with the NSCN (Khaplang) and yet another one with the United Naga Council and so on. There is a need to involve everybody.