77th Naga Independence Day 2024
Another year for celebration and remembrance

Ngaranmi Shimray *

Nagas have many things to be proud of. Nagas were among the first to realise need for an identity as early as 1918 when the Naga Club was formed. Naga hills and Tuensang became a State in 1963. The Naga National Council carried on the struggle for freedom and now the main flag bearer, the NSCN (National Socialist Council of Nagalim) is carrying on peace talks with India since 1997.

On 3rd August of 2015, the Framework Agreement (FA) considered to be the prelude to the final settlement gave a fillip to the Naga peace efforts. Every year the 14th of August is celebrated as the Naga Independence Day and 2024 will be the 77th year. The Naga movement has been on a long and torturous voyage and now, with the Framework Agreement and most issues ironed out, just one step awaits the dawn of a new era.

Consider the Mizo movement triggered by bamboo flowering famine in 1959, armed rebellion in 1966 and the Mizoram Accord in 1986. Memorandum of Settlement was signed on 30th June 1986 within 4 hours when Pu Laldenga agreed to the terms of the Central Government as the gain of becoming a State outweighed every other consideration.

He capitalised on the absolute majority in Parliament enjoyed by Rajiv Gandhi as Prime Minister who pushed Constitutional amendments through within two months of signing the Mizoram Accord making Mizoram the 23rd State of India.

It is the most and only successful peace agreement in India after its independence in 1947. Mizoram was created in 1987, yet it has progressed ahead of many older States in the region. The main factor for its success is peace and political stability in a homogeneous society.

The aspiration of the Nagas may be to have a conspicuous Nagalim encompassing all Naga inhabited areas in the North Eastern region and Myanmar. Now, this aspiration, considering geopolitical realities and the contours of the FA could be a hybrid and novel definition of federalism in India.

As expected in any society there are discordant diehard voices ensconced far from reality that independence is the goal and there should be no settlement within the framework of the Constitution of India.

The modem technological driven world has changed the aspirations of youth and the Naga youth are not different. They want to have a successful life, family and peaceful coexistence. They should be given this opportunity by making sacrifices if required to achieve the goal for peace.

The Nagas of Nagaland live in a homogeneous tribal State inhabited only by Naga tribes, but the Nagas living in adjoining States of Arunachal, Assam and Manipur live in a heterogeneous society with dominant communities who are more numerous in number.

The Nagas living outside the State of Nagaland face difficulties of suppression, exploitation, and subjugation by the dominant community. They do not have any protection or self Government unlike other minority tribes in Assam, Mizoram and Tripura who have been given the Sixth Schedule to administrate themselves under Article 244 of the Constitution.

They are bullied and do not get their due share of developmental funds, employment in Government and basic services and therefore remain backward. While Naga peace talks continue, Nagas of Manipur in particular are anxious of the news that the Central Government is exploring various options for a solution to the Manipur crisis caused by the Meitei and Kuki-Zo ethnic clashes and fear that they may miss the bus.

The Manipur crisis is more complex than it seems. Complexity is accentuated by the presence of various armed ethnic groups ie Meitei, Nagas and Kuki-Zos who will have to surrender their fire arms simultaneously as leaving one armed ethnic group would be considered suicidal by the other groups giving up arms.

The demand of Scheduled Tribe (ST) status by the Meitei community, which resulted in the Manipur High Court passing an Order in 27th March 2023 for referring the matter to the Centre which has now been admitted by the Chief Minister of Manipur to be the trigger of the 3rd May 2023 clashes, is a burning issue for the tribes whose tribal lands in Hill Areas are under threat of land grab.

Over and above these, the promise of a peaceful settlement of the Naga movement hinged on the FA has made the Nagas of Manipur reticent in voicing their views and demand. They are in a quandary and do not know what to do. They hold back from articulating their thoughts for fear of inviting the ire of the Naga leaders engaged in peace negotiations. Perhaps, the Naga peace negotiators can guide and assure them to assuage their fear of missing the bus.

The Naga movement is more complex than the Mizo rebellion as it seeks a novel form of federal relationship with India. If reports are to be believed most of the issues have been sorted out barring two ie a Flag and a Constitution (Yehzabo). The million dollar question is whether the Naga peace negotiators will dilute their demands to cling to a conclusive agreement.

The recent outburst of a senior legislator from the NPF party in Nagaland reported by Nirendra Dev for the Nagaland Page on 9th August 2024 that “the ceasefire has done more harm than good” and further stated that “this ceasefire is only a license to extort, license to harass and license to issue intimidation to people” reveals the people’s sentiments of how the good deed of ceasefire has provided opportunity to the cadre to extort, harass and intimidate.

The outburst should be considered as a message that patience is running thin and the misdeeds are becoming intolerable. Social media and the internet has spread the misdeeds like wild fire easily building up adverse impressions against the cadre.

In Manipur, the United Naga Council (UNC) has reaffirmed its demand to roll back the creation of new districts in the Hill Areas, which essentially targets mainly the creation of Kangpokpi and Tengnoupal districts and the bifurcation of Ukhrul and Tamenglong districts opening up old wounds of disagreement on ownership of land of the Nagas by the Kukis.

There is an internal churning in the region caused by the Manipur crisis which has been partly reflected in the recent Parliamentary elections where the BJP and its allies lost three Lok Sabha seats to the Congress in Manipur and Nagaland, a fading party infused fresh blood by the mishandling of the Manipur crisis.

The internal turmoil in Myanmar since 2021 affecting the border States with influx of refugees, and the current political upheaval in Bangladesh has added more urgency for bringing about early resolution to the Manipur crisis.

Nagas of Manipur are in a very difficult and paradoxical situation. They cannot wait another five years as the stakeholders are hard pressed to resolve the Manipur crisis on priority. The geo-political dynamics has added pressure to the urgency. People of Manipur are all affected badly in terms of rising cost of living, rampant extortions, unchecked movement of radical elements, lawlessness and miseries of the internally displaced persons in the year long ethnic conflict.

Manipur has lost all the gains of peaceful coexistence and stable law & order situation under the first BJP led State Government and has slipped back to the earlier years of lawlessness. The State Government is no longer inclusive and participative and is increasingly becoming Meitei-centric led governance.

For more than a year, 16% of the Kuki-Zo population are no longer participating in the political and administrative circles in Imphal, and Naga tribals are increasingly being sidelined hurting the legitimacy of Manipur as an all inclusive State Government.

While the Nagas celebrate its Independence Day, the Naga leaders should not forget that there is urgency for the Manipur crisis to be resolved and it would be prudent for the Nagas of Manipur to consider taking a decision whether to remain mum during the time when resolving the Kuki-Zo demand for separate administration is under consideration or wait patiently like true Naga patriots for a Naga peace settlement under the Framework Agreement.