What Do The Nagas Want? People Want Peace, Rebels Want Status Quo
Suresh Kr Pramar, Freelance Contributor
August 15, 2004

After blowing hot and cold over the contents of the Common Minimum Programme adopted by the Congress led government at the Centre, the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (Issac Muviah) has agreed to an extension of the ceasefire agreement in Nagaland. First announced in 1997 the agreement was to have ended on July 31, 2004.

The NSCN (IM) had threatened to end the ceasefire expressing reservations over a clause in the CMP which says that the government will not change borders of any state in the North East Region The rebel organization read the clause as a rejection of their demand for a Greater Nagaland or Nagalim, incorporating contiguous Naga populated areas in neighbouring states. During the peace talks in Amsterdam in June this year the NSCN leaders told K.Padmanabhaiah, New Delhi’s emissary for talks that they would have to end the ceasefire if the clause was not removed. 

The Convener of the group’s ceasefire monitoring cell, Phungthing Shimrang said they had decided to ignore the contents of the CMP since that was an internal matter of the government. If the new government wants to discontinue alteration of existing boundaries then that’s their internal problem. At the meeting in Thailand held in July end the rebels have renewed their decision to extend the ceasefire.

Though the main rebel group has softened its stand against the new central government there are still dark clouds ahead. The rival Kaplang group has threatened to withdraw from the ceasefire because the Assam Rifles were raiding their camps to search for ULFA rebels. The group has confirmed that it is helping the Assam rebel group to reorganize itself after it was badly mauled in Bhutan.

Intelligence sources claim that the change at the Centre had caused misgivings among the Naga insurgent groups about the future of the ceasefire. The main insurgent group the National Socialist Council of Nagaland, Issac Muviah (NSCN IM) had forged excellent relations with the Vajpayee government. They had reportedly helped the saffron party to gain a foothold in the hill states in the Region. The NSCN (IM) had helped the BJP win six seats in the Nagaland Assembly. In Arunachal Pradesh it was responsible for bringing about the fall of the Mukut Mithi led Congress government and the installation of the first BJP government in the Region under Gegong Apang.

While the Naga have heaved a sigh of relief, a sizeable section of the literate post Phizo generation says it was never in doubt about the intentions of the rebel outfits. An opinion posted on the net says, “The NSCN could not have carried out its threat to end the ceasefire. The aging leadership has neither the stamina to battle the Indian security forces nor does it enjoy the confidence of a majority of the Naga population.”

Security forces want the government of India to review the peace talks so that a clear line can be adopted towards the rebel outfits. There have been reports that the NSCN (IM) has been using the ceasefire to strengthen itself against its rivals as also to extend its hold over additional territory. There is a feeling that the Centre does not have a long-term vision of where it wants to go. All it has done so far is to announce that its will not alter the borders of any of the existing states.

The Chief Minister of Manipur, Okram Ibobi, has repeatedly petitioned the Centre to reign in the rebels. In a statement in the Manipur Assembly the Chief Minister revealed that the NSCN (IM) was active in Manipur despite its involvement in peace talks with the Centre. He said, “The ground rules were framed to prevent Naga militants from violating the ceasefire. NSCN (IM) members, however, are freely moving about in Manipur with weapons.”

Analysing the trend of negotiations over the past seven years one cannot but conclude that neither party is keen on an early settlement of the 52-year-old problem. The negotiations have all the elements of play-acting with the main actors reciting their lines and acting their parts while the people look on expectantly. Neither party seems to want the problem to go away since both have developed a deep vested interest in the status quo.

What do the Naga want?

A vast majority of the people of the state wants peace and security. Fifty-two years of insurgency and uncertainty has made the Naga weary. They no longer have the appetite for war or for any notions of independence from India. They have realized that their salvation lies in remaining a part of the Indian nation and sharing in its prosperity and peace.

According to Kuldip Nayar, a journalist and a former Indian High Commissioner in Great Britain, the late Phizo had, towards the end of his life, expressed the desire to talk peace with the Indian Government. In an article in Dainik Jagran, a Hindi publication, Nayar has said, “Before his death Phizo had come to the conclusion that Nagaland should find a solution to its problems within the Indian Constitution.”

Nayar has revealed that while he was High Commissioner in Great Britain an old colleague of the Naga leader had met him and informed him that Phizo was a changed man and wanted to solve the Naga issue with Indian leaders. “He did not live long enough to fulfill his desire. However before he died he had sent a message to his supporters in Nagaland asking them to give up the path of violence and work for a solution within the framework of the Indian Constitution.”

Patrica Mukhim, a columnist based in Shillong says, “the Nagas are just as keen to join the development bandwagon. But their benchmark for development is Singapore or Thailand. Nagas of Kohima (the state capital) and Dimapur (the main commercial centre) are almost disdainful of ‘Indians’, of the poverty and stench of rural India. The urban bred Naga forgets that life in his village is not too different from rural India.”

A majority of the Nagas are proud Indians. Many have joined the Indian army and have sacrificed their life in the defence of the country in Kargil and elsewhere. In election after election, both to the state Assembly and Parliament, the Nagas have actively participated in the polling despite threats by the underground. In every election the turnout of voters has exceeded 70 percent, which is higher than the All India average.

Though the people want a change and yearn for peace they have yet to develop a sufficiently strong public movement, which will ensure that the underground agrees to work for peace. The younger and more educated Nagas, who have had the benefit of traveling outside the state, have emerged as a vibrant, questioning and intelligent group, which has long lost faith in the ideology of the underground. 

Unfortunately the younger generation of Nagas does not have the courage to question the dictates of their elders. They do not enjoy the independence to express his own views. Similarly the people by and large are not willing to openly defy the dictates of the underground even though they continue to suffer the consequence of underground taxes and other economic burdens.

The Nagas have closely watched the economic turnabout in Mizoram after it ended its 20-year-old insurgency and embarked on the path of economic development. The Mizos are today enjoying all the freedoms guaranteed under the Indian constitution. They are today the country’s second most literate state because of the education programmes launched after the end of insurgency.

There is all-round economic progress in the state. The life of the ordinary Mizo has improved and there is a growing desire to make the state a model of peace and prosperity in the strife torn Region. Yesterday’s rebels are the initiatators of progress in the state. The difference between the two states is evident in the respective capitals. 

Aizawl, the Mizoram capital, is a growing town with good roads, well developed shopping areas, government secretariat etc. Kohima on the other hand looks like a bombed out town with roads in deplorable state. The former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was so appalled by the conditions of the roads that he sanctioned a substantial amount for road development immediately.

The Mizos were able to shun violence because both the underground and the then political leadership in the state were for peace. The people were united in their desire to end the years of strife and violence. It was the moral pressure of the people, which forced both sides to bring an end to violence and terror.

Unfortunately for the Nagas there are too many interested parties in the conflict, each burden by their ego.” If only our leaders shared the vision of the Mizo leaders Nagaland would have become a golden state not only in the Region but the entire country,” a Naga youth told this correspondent during a visit to Kohima last year.

The Naga underground do not want to share the nationalistic fervor of the Indian mainstream. They would like the outside world to believe that the Nagas are a people wronged by India. They are forever complaining about economic neglect by the Centre and yet Nagaland is one of the three states in the country, which has constantly received the highest per capita development funds from the Centre.

According to Mukhim “the cry of neglect by Delhi is the biggest farce ever. If Delhi had indeed neglected the region where has all the money for all those mansions in Guwahati, Shillong, Kohima, Dimapur, Imphal, Itanagar come from? The Indian taxpayer’s money has gone into the construction of mansions and purchase of all creature comforts for the elite of the Region.”

While the people yearn for peace and progress the rebels, who claim to be fighting for their freedom, would like the status quo to continue. This suits the over ground politicians and the bureaucracy as well. Since independence the state has been receiving increasing level of grants every year for development activities. According to a recent survey the state had received over Rs 6600 crore as grants during the 1990-91 and 1998-99. The per capita assistance worked out to Rs 23,177.

Despite this massive funding year after year the condition of the people has not shown appreciable improvement. While the rich and influential have become richer and more influential the people in generally have not benefited from this increasing investment. According to an observer “An in-depth study into how development funds have been utilized and where they have been invested would startle the people.”

Most of the funds being offered to the state for development purposes have gone to line the pockets of the politician, bureaucrats, businessmen and the militants. It is a commonly known fact in Nagaland that a large proportion of Central grants are being used to finance the militants. Recently an absurd proposal was made in the state Assembly that called upon the state government to set aside sufficient funds for the underground to finance their government.

There are a growing number of people in the state who have begun to question the NSCN’s right to represent the people of Nagaland. H. Bhuban Singh says, “ The NSCN (IM) 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(IM) another with the present state government and a separate one with the NSCN (Khaplang) and yet another for some other group.”

A major problem with the ongoing talks is that there is no guarantee that an agreement with the NSCN (IM) would be acceptable to the other groups. The existence of a Naga nation is a myth. The term Naga has actually be used to identify all tribes of Nagaland just like the term Madrasis is used to refer to all South Indian by the North Indians.

If the identification of a community or nation is based on language the Naga nation does not exist. The Semas, the Lothas, the Aos, the Angamees all speak different dialects and cannot communicate with each other. During British rule, Nagamese, a language that is a mix of Assemese and Hindi, was developed and is today the language of the state. Of late there has been some opposition against the use of Nagamese among the literate Nagas.

It is evident that the rebels are in no great hurry to bring peace to the state. To ensure that the peace talks continue indefinitely the rebels have raised various demands, which no self-respecting government will be able to concede. The Centre cannot give in to the demand for Greater Nagaland with areas in neighbouring states being included without facing a major, violent flare up in the Region. The Manipuri have already demonstrated that they are unwilling to concede any part of their territory without rivers of blood flowing.

The status quo suits the rebels. The NSCN (IM) leadership lives in great comfort and luxury in a foreign country. It is very doubtful if the leaders would like to return to Nagaland and trek for hours over dusty, uneven roads. If a settlement is reached Muivah will be required to return and take over the government, as did Laldenga in Mizoramn after the Mizo Peace Accord was signed. 

Like any political leader he will be expected to fulfill the promises made to the people. Today as the leader of the rebels he does not face the criticism of the people, as do the politicians in power, including the Chief Minister. Like Laldenga and after him Zoramthanga, Muivah will find that it is easy control disciplined rebels than run a democratically elected government. Zoramthanga conceded this fact when at a conference before the last Assembly poll he had said he had found life in the jungle more comfortable than in the Chief Minister’s residence.

Says Mukhim “In the ultimate what has weakened the Naga movement is the physical softening of its leaders. If we look at the leaders of freedom movements across the globe, we find that they suffer tremendous pain and persecution but they insist on leading their people from the front. They do not abandon their people and seek political asylum elsewhere merely because they are afraid of being arrested. The moral fibre of any leader is visible in the kind of moral pressure he exerts on those who occupy his territory. Gandhi adopted this strategy with the British. They found the pressure too much and finally gave in. The Indian government might take the Nagas more seriously if their leaders adopted an honest and forthright stance. It would also greatly benefit the Naga cause if the leaders abandoned their personal motives and ambitions.”

The Centre needs to take a deep and long look at the issues involved in the talks to decide exactly what it wants to achieve in Nagaland. The Nagas are fast loosing faith in the Centre’s capacity to end the uncertainty in the state. As a commentator has said “ the problem is that New Delhi is itself not concerned about how the money is spent. For North Block mandarins it is better for the belligerent Northeasterners to fight among themselves till they are so tired of fighting that they will themselves resolve their real and perceived problems.”