Loud silence of dissatisfaction in Eastern Nagaland

Bula Devi *

Map of Nagaland with areas demanded by ENPO :: Pix - TSE

The guns have long fallen silent, and Nagaland stands at the cusp of hitting the development curve. But behind the tranquil veneer, murmurs of dissatisfaction and anger are longing to be heard by anyone who is willing to listen.

The people of Eastern Nagaland comprising mainly six tribes – Chang, Konyak, Phom, Sangtam, Khiamniungan and Yimchunger – and living in Tuensang, Mon, Lonleng and Kiphire districts and Noklak and Shamator sub-divisions, have launched a movement for a separate state. The Eastern Nagaland Peoples' Organisation (ENPO), spearheading the movement, is demanding what they call Frontier Nagaland.

The ENPO's position is that while the rest of the state has made rapid strides in development, eastern Nagaland has lagged behind. The Centre has generously given funds to the state, but the ENPO feels they have gone into a blackhole with the money never reaching the intended beneficiaries.

On the face of it, the Central Government appears to be sympathetic towards, not perhaps to the ENPO's demand for statehood but for the lack of development in eastern Nagaland and the neglect of the region. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs even called a meeting recently to discuss the issue. But the ENPO turned down the meeting as the state government, too, had been invited.

"We are demanding statehood from the Government of India and not the state government. Therefore, we should be granted a bilateral meeting, it should not be trilateral. The reason for a trilateral meeting arises only after we break ice with the Centre," a senior leader said. The meeting has now been rescheduled and is likely to take place soon.

That the Central government is willing to hear out the ENPO and has not scoffed at its demand for statehood is surprising. There are a million mutinies in the Northeast, with a majority of the aggrieved people demanding a separate state. The Karbis are seeking statehood, the Dimasas have a similar demand and the hills of Darjeeling were in flames at being left out of the statehood race when the Centre announced some months back its intent to create Telangana. The list is seemingly endless.

Ten years after the Bodos were granted an autonomous council, putting a lid on the Bodo movement for a separate state, a fresh demand for statehood is being heard. The slogan this time may not be "Divide Assam fifty, fifty" but it is thereabouts, with the All-Bodo Students' Union agitating for a separate state.

So, why is the Centre lending its ear to the ENPO ? Is it really concerned about the poor conditions in eastern Nagaland? There is definitely some cause for worry in government circles for the deprived people of eastern Nagaland but by sympathasing with the ENPO, the Centre could also be attempting to keep the Nagaland government, and by extension the NSCN-IM, on a leash.

The NSCN-IM is demanding the consolidation of all Naga inhabited areas, including parts of Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Myanmar, for a Greater Nagalim. The Neiphiu Rio government of Nagaland has winked at this demand and perhaps even stoked it. By indirectly propping up the ENPO, deliberately some would say, the Centre's calculation could be to neutralise both the Naga rebels and the Rio government.

This serves two purposes. One, the Centre can tell the NSCN-IM and the Nagaland government that it should not keep harping on Greater Nagalim as its house is divided, with the eastern Naga people seeking to split from Nagaland itself. People living in glass houses should not throw stones at others, the Centre can argue.

Second, the Central government can also put a check on repeated demands from governments in the region, in this case the Nagaland government, for more doles. One of the major grievances of the ENPO is of neglect and inequitable development of the state. The Centre's sympathies for eastern Nagaland are actually a rap on the knuckles of the Nagaland government.

Eastern Nagaland was part of the Tuensang Frontier Division in the North East Frontier Agency, now Arunachal Pradesh. It was merged with the Naga Hills of Assam to form Nagaland in 1963. From 1963 to 1973/74, there was a constitutional provision to look after the needs of the people of the area but, according to Mr Toshi Wungtung, secretary of the Steering Committee for Statehood Demand, there "was a deliberate negligence and manipulation by successive ruling dispensations in the State" to keep the region backward.

"The backwardness of the people may have been by destiny in the early stages, but now, it is a deliberate and perpetual design that the condition of the people of the area are deprived and doomed to remain unchanged in this combative milieus of the 21st century," an ENPO memorandum submitted to the Prime Minister in 2010 says.

Former Border Security Force chief E.N.Rammohan, a retired IPS officer of the Assam cadre who served in the North East in various capacities, said while there is equality by and large in almost all tribal societies, "what is exceptional in Nagaland is that those with wealth refuse to share it with the poor." The moneyed class in Nagaland does not want to share their rich with others, he said.

From the political to the economic, the people of Eastern Nagaland feel short-changed. Politically, they feel that in proportion to their population, they are not adequately represented in the Nagaland Assembly and subsequently in the cabinet.

In the current Assembly, they have only 20 MLAs out of a total of 60.

On the employment front, too, they lag behind. Only three-four per cent of the six tribes in Eastern Nagaland have government jobs. Of this, 90 per cent are grade four employees and only about two per cent have Gazetted posts.

In education, while Nagaland as a whole has a literacy rate of 78 per cent, Eastern Nagaland is only 40 per cent. There is also a severe shortage of teachers in the region. A leader claimed that 200-300 teachers belonging to more advanced tribes have not only got themselves transferred out of Eastern Nagaland, but also managed to get these posts abolished, causing an acute shortage of teachers.

Roads and infrastructure are also in a state of neglect. There were good roads when the region was part of NEFA. Even after the formation of Nagaland, the Border Roads Organisation continued with road construction. But, that has stopped now. Contractors from outside get tenders but work remains largely on paper.

It is believed that the lower ranks of some insurgent groups who belong to Eastern Nagaland favour a separate state because they only took up arms as there was nothing better to do. Besides, Eastern Nagaland never favoured the demand Greater Nagaland.

"Will I be more bothered about whether I can feed my own children or feeding the people of Greater Nagaland?" a person from Eastern Nagaland asked.

The grievances of Eastern Nagaland appear genuine. But, can the same be said of the Centre's intentions ? Going by past experience, the Central government often plays footsie with one group while engaging with the rival. This path can be littered with pitfalls.