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SUPPRESSION AND STRUGGLE By Mr. A. Mao http://www.angelfire.com/mi/Nagalim/contents.html The Nagas are a people consisting of more than 40 communities, indigenous to a territory which lies between the Latitudes 23.5º North and 28.3º North and Longitudes 93º East and 97º East. The Nagas traditionally lived in village-states, independent and self-contained, with a democratically constituted village council headed by a Chief. There was no distinction between individuals and one could earn status and honor by throwing ‘the feast of merit’, out of the prosperity attained from the toil and sweat of his labor. This ensured that there was no glaring in equality in society. In 1832, the Nagas entered the recorded history of the imperialist world. The year witnessed the first entry of British into the Naga territory and marked the beginning of their resistance against political and military domination; division of their land; destruction and distortion of their history, institutions and human rights by alien forces. From then onwards the history of the Nagas was one of suppression against which the spirit of freedom and the tenacity of the people were constantly manifested with unrelenting zeal. The struggle became an organized movement after 4000 Nagas who had gone to France to serve in the Labor Corps during the World War I returned home and formed the Naga Club. In 1929, the Naga Club submitted a memorandum to the Simon Commission demanding that "the Nagas should be left alone". The Naga National Council (NNC) was formed in 1946 and they took over from the Naga Club in spearheading the movement for self-determination. In June 1947, the British India Government entered into an agreement with the Nagas, popularly known as the Nine Point Agreement that provided for the right of self-determination after a period of ten years of observance of the Agreement. On 14 August 1947, the Nagas declared their Independence when they realized that the Indian Constituent Assembly had backtracked on the Nine Point Agreement and ignored the provisions of the Agreement. The Nagas continued to pursue India to honor the Nine Point Agreement but India responded by arresting NNC President Mr. A.Z. Phizo and several other leaders while they were returning from a meeting with leaders of the Indian Union in July 1948. In 1951, the NNC called for a Plebiscite in which 99.9 % of the Nagas voted in favor of Independent Nagalim. A civil disobedience movement was then started wherein the Nagas refused to pay house tax and boycotted Government offices and schools. This was followed by cunning attempts by Indian agents to infiltrate the rank and file of the Nagas' movement so as to weaken and destroy from within the ever-growing spirit of Nationalism among the Nagas. Simultaneously there was widespread police action. Having failed with this, the occupational Indian troops marched into Nagalim in 1956 and then the saga of brutal suppression started. In the year 1962, while the Naga patriots were engaged in war with the occupational Indian army, a fraction of the total Nagalim which was occupied by some of the Naga communities was conferred statehood and inaugurated as the 16th state under the Indian Union. This was yet another exercise in the divide-and-rule policy of India as the creation of the pseudo Nagaland state left out majority of the Nagas and greater part of the land under different administrative areas. The struggle, however, continued unabated against alien occupation and during the period 1964-1966, which may now be called "the period of the first cease-fire", India made an attempt to have ‘Peace Talk’ with the Nagas at the Prime Minister’s level. But this failed because India had a fixed agenda – that the Nagas have been weakened and made to realize India’s military might and, therefore, they would submit to conditions imposed on them. When it was found that this was not the case, India violated the Cease-fire Agreement and resumed its suppression with renewed vigor. In 1975, the infamous Shillong Accord was signed by some treacherous individuals that endorsed total capitulation of the Nagas to the occupational force. But it was never understood by India that the Naga Nation could never be represented by individuals who can be cowed down by suppression in whatever form but only by its history and inalienable rights upheld by true soldiers of Nagalim. The struggle of the Naga people, thus, continued with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN), which emerged soon after, to uphold the sacred ideal of Naga Nationalism. All through the Naga history, in the journey towards her destiny, the Naga Nation was subjected to suppression of various means - brutal force, trickery and false assurances, propaganda and creation of fear and suspicion among nationalists, etc. It has, therefore, been the history of the struggle of the Nagas against the suppression of their right to self-determination.
DIRECT FORM OF SUPPRESSION Draconian Laws The history of imposition of inhuman and illegal laws on the Nagas started with the enactment of the Assam Maintenance of Public Order (Autonomous Districts) Act 1953. In 1958, the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Regulation was imposed in Nagalim and the Regulation was converted into an Act of the Indian Parliament at a later part of that year. These Acts give extra constitutional powers and immunity from civil prosecution to the occupational Indian armed forces and they have been used by India to crush the Naga National movement. The validity of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, was challenged by Human Rights activists in the Supreme Court of India but the inhuman law was upheld by the Indian Supreme Court in its ruling delivered in 1997. Thus, under the Indian constitutional laws, it was considered valid to kill, maim, torture, rape, loot and burn villagers in the name of countering the Naga armed resistance. Military Action Protected and backed by these draconian laws, the occupational Indian armed forces have, with impunity, carried out extra-judicial killings, rape and molestation of women, torture, desecration of churches and deprived villagers of their liberty by grouping of villagers and villages, arbitrary imposition of curfew and illegal detention, etc. Through the use of cruel and brutal force, attempts were made to smother the inherent spirit of freedom of the Nagas. At times it was just simply sadistic atrocities and at others as retaliation when the Indian soldiers experienced defeats at the hands of the Naga Army in battles. Villagers were even grouped together in the Indian Army camps during times of active fire exchanges as human shields. The uncountable instances of barbaric cruelty meted out against the Naga people will fill volumes and they are increasing by the day.
INDIRECT FORM OF SUPPRESSION Economic Policy India’s economic policy in the pseudo Nagaland State is devoid of any development consideration. Crores and crores of rupees were poured in without accountability to dilute the spirit of Naga Nationalism with a false sense of prosperity and abundance. India must have clearly seen that the Nagas, in due course of time, would be divided into ‘Haves’ and ‘Have nots’ and into powerful families and peasants. The majority of the Naga villagers suffered deprivation and injustice of the distorted and deformed system imposed on them. India’s Proxy Wars Support of Kuki militants: Capitalizing on the historical conflicts of Nagas and Kukis, the Indian Army supported Kuki militants with arms and logistic support and even conducted joint operations in Naga villages. The promotion of ethnic rivalry suited India as the Kukis could be effectively used against the Nagas, and the atrocities perpetuated thereby was conveniently labeled as casualty of ethnic clashes. Thus dozens of Naga villages were razed to the ground and displaced and hundreds of Nagas have lost their lives in the Indian-sponsored Kuki violence. Patronage of factions: One very subtle form of suppression was the patronization of Mr. Khaplang and his mercenaries. India convinced Mr. Khaplang that the NSCN was the common enemy through the Office of pseudo Nagaland State politicians. Funds were made available and information exchanged. Propaganda of various sorts was floated and a particular community was targeted. The fratricidal war that followed took a heavy toll and Nagas lost many of the best warriors. Tribalism was exploited to the maximum. But truth has its way of proving itself and the truth of the Nagas have continued to inspire the people and the machinations of the enemies have been exposed. Sponsoring of state politics mercenaries: Use of military force alone was not enough to put down the Naga movement. New Delhi, therefore, obtained the willing service of some educated Nagas who could be promoted and projected as leaders to slowly build up, through money and favor, a circle of influence towards so-called peace and development away from the ordained destiny of the Nagas. Very tactfully, coached by their paymasters, the opportunists started harping on "peace" as a pre-requisite of development never questioning directly the Nationhood of the Nagas. An attempt was, thus, made to break the backbone of the Naga warriors with promises of a life of plenty and comfort. As they built up loyalties, based on the spoils of dirty politics, they gradually started raising their voices for party allegiance and, in extension, for Indian nationalism when they did not have even an iota of Indian blood in them. Their mission was easy, for their patrons placed unlimited resources at their disposal. They just needed to forget their identity and shed their Naganess. The equation today is that of a closed circle of power- and money-mongers against the Nagas at large. Money and muscle is used to keep the people away from the decision making process. Elections are a farce and a mere formality to legitimize the plunder of the land and its people of its greatest treasures of Nationalism, integrity and uprightness. After decades of the so-called peace and development, the destruction brought to the pristine Naga Hills is stupendous. The only infrastructure created was for instability and anarchy which is required to perpetuate the reign of the merchants of death whose mission is to murder the Naga Nation for a few gold coins. The so-called politicians of the pseudo Nagaland State Government also took up the Khaplang card to further their ends. The Khaplang cadres became the private army of these politicians. In January 1996, this State Government launched the so-called "Peace Offensive", for which the Indian Government provided an amount of Rs. 113 crores. The hired assassins killed maximum number of Nagas soon after the launching of the program. Arms were provided and cash rewards given for liquidating Naga National Workers and their relatives and well wishers. That such a thing is possible through the machination and schemes of India indicates the extent to which the enemy would go to suppress the Naga people through a divide and rule policy. Information Blackout to the Outside World Till very recently the Indian Government tried to project the Naga Issue as a Law and Order Problem created by few savage disgruntled tribals both within India and outside. Because of the security environment, media persons were discouraged from visiting the area and therefore news coverage were mainly based on concocted handouts by Indian Government Agencies. Even when genuine reports were successfully transmitted there was clearly very concerted efforts to avoid publishing them. In the wake of the infamous "Operation Bluebird" conducted by the Indian army after the Naga Army overran the Company Headquarters of the 3rd Assam Rifles at Oinam on 9 July 1987, the Amnesty International was disallowed to visit the villages to assess the extent of atrocities and human rights violation committed on the innocent Naga people. The misinformation, threats to victims and witnesses, and the intimidation to the general public at large, over and beyond the numerous culpable violation of human rights, during the operation in Oinam area epitomizes the attitude of India towards the Nagas. There is, therefore, little doubt that India enjoys suppressing the Nagas without scruples in manners however inhuman and ignominious. It is definitely a lack of respect of people and their rights. Suppression by Gradual Deceit After having backed out from the Nine Point Agreement of 1947, the Indian Government entered into yet another agreement in 1960, the so-called Sixteen Point Agreement, with some opportunist Naga individuals under the banner of the Naga People Convention (NPC). Following this agreement the pseudo State of Nagaland was created in 1962 out of some part of Nagalim where less than half of the Naga people inhabit, as mentioned earlier. The NPC, knowing fully well that the creation of Nagaland State under the Indian Union would divide the Nagas at least administratively, maneuvered the process to the intended end and signed the agreement. The state of Nagaland was then placed under the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. Barely ten years passed before the Government of India unilaterally transferred the Naga Issue in 1972 from the Ministry of External Affairs to the Home Ministry in contravention of the 16 Point Agreement. Further, the provision of the 16 Point Agreement, which stipulates that the State expenditure would be supported by contribution from the consolidated fund of India, has now been violated. The deceit with which the Indian Government deals with even its own supposed allies among the Nagas as seen above again speaks eloquently of the scheming ways in which gradual measures were taken to suppress the Naga people. The Environment of Suppression Using various forms of suppression, an environment of fear, distrust, suspicion and insecurity was created over the years. An atmosphere of chaos was intentionally created which paralyzed the Naga people and prevented active participation in their own development, as individuals and as a nation. This also served the purpose of projecting the Naga problem to the outside world as no more than a power struggle between interested parties, and the anarchy a making of their own. This way the enemy attempted ceaselessly to dissuade the outside world from accepting and acknowledging the inalienable rights of the Nagas. The Present Situation and attempts of Suppression The Cease-fire entered into by the NSCN and the Government of India in August 1997, the second of its kind between India and the Nagas, is being jeopardized by the Indian attempt to limit its applicability to the pseudo State of Nagaland under the Indian Union. During the first Cease-fire declared in 1964, all the Naga areas were covered. The issue, called the Naga Political problem, remains unchanged and yet there is an attempt to change the area of operation of Cease-fire this time. The on-going peace process involves an India without a strong leader. In the 1964 situation, India had a strong leader in Nehru, who enjoyed the support of the Indian people. However, the first peace talks failed. Therefore, it becomes an important point at this juncture to speculate on what India really wants out of this peace talk? Is there some design other than to understand the position, history and perception of the Nagas? Again the Indian Government stresses on the need of unity among the Naga people before a meaningful dialogue can be initiated. This has almost become a pre-condition, reiterated through the chief henchman of India inside Nagalim, Mr. S.C. Jamir, over and over again. When in the first Peace Talk initiatives, the Nagas were one and united, yet the Talk failed, will it succeed now if the Naga National Workers become united with traitors and betrayers of the Naga cause? For monitoring the Cease-fire and for creating a congenial atmosphere to facilitate the peace talk process, a Monitoring Cell has been constituted. All officials from the Government of India in the Monitoring Cell are either from the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Assam Rifles or the Central Reserve Police Force which are basically all concerned with Law and Order and maintenance thereof. But the peace process is professedly towards finding a political solution. There is, indeed, much inconsistency in the way India has handled the issue. Such deliberate and motivated action on the part of India has accordingly led to a change in the composition of the NSCN team in the Monitoring Cell against its wishes and established international protocol. Many attempts have been made to propagate that the NSCN had violated the terms of the Cease-fire, while on the contrary the Nagas have exercised the utmost restraint in the face of serious provocation where many of the Naga Army personnel were killed in cold blood. Thus the posture and actions of the Indian Government and its agencies ought to be carefully understood so that covert attempts to perpetuate the suppression of the Naga people are comprehended for what they really are. This is also important to ensure that the Cease-fire and its repeated extension is not just to buy time for peace under Indian dictates. Lastly, the imposition of the mock Indian parliamentary and State Assembly elections in 1998, that which was given a total boycott by the Naga people, speaks of the dubiousness with which the Naga issue is perceived by India. While it was agreed that the peace talk would be held unconditionally for which it was logical that all political election exercise within the Indian constitution should be suspended, the undesirable and redundant factor of an unmandated State government was allowed to be brought into play. The question then is what kind of a role is envisaged for this pseudo Nagaland State Government in the peace process, when under the same leadership of Mr. S.C. Jamir, the pseudo state government had placed obstacles after obstacles in the path of the Naga Nation towards its ultimate goal. The Struggle for Self-determination defined The struggle and resistance of the Nagas is not against bad governance, corruption or dictatorship. It is a struggle against subjugation by alien culture, system and people. Initially the Nagas adopted reasonable and civilized means to convince India to leave the Nagas alone. But nefarious designs were put into action while holding seemingly civilized discussions. Fully aware that the Naga demand for freedom could not be objected to with valid reasons, India responded all at once with ‘may bes', ‘ifs’ and threats of use of force, hoping that with the passage of time and machination, the sharpness and clarity of the Naga perception of freedom would become blurred and confused. In the Indo-Naga relation, India used her minds and cunnings to quail the Naga Freedom movement. Whatever forms and means of suppression the enemy had employed have failed. At every step of suppression the Naga spirit has grown from strength to strength. On the ruins created by the havoc of suppression, Naga Nationalism has taken birth each time with renewed vigor and strength. The Nagas have reposed their faith and trust in God and in the warriors they have sent into the jungles, for in their hearts they have always known that real freedom lies in their own system – economic, political and social and not in the riches or booty brought in through the so-called development by the occupational forces and their agents. The Nagas still maintain their human essence. The concept of life and freedom continues to be very clear and dear to the Naga people in spite of the attempts of the enemy to destroy what is indestructible. The Naga struggle is not just an emotional and sentimental issue of being free and uncontrolled by others. It is an inherent longing to grow and develop according to his own genius, with his own culture, values and ethos, translated into action in the face of suppression. The Nagas cannot be what they are not and they only can discover themselves. The last 50 years have definitely taught the Nagas what they are not indeed, a lesson learnt 50 years over. It has been argued that the Nagas cannot develop by themselves and they need to be nurtured by a strong and mighty Nation. It has been said that the Indian Constitution provides for the aspiration of the tribal people, their culture, values, etc. But it is preposterous to imagine the Nagas within the Indian Union that was formed without the consent and participation of the Nagas. The Indian Constitution is based on the experience of the Indian Freedom movement with which the Nagas were never associated. The Nagas have been consistently unconvinced about this argument because the Indian culture, Indian values and Indian ethos, however advanced and civilized, will not gel with Nagaism. The Naga struggle continues ever strongly despite the rigorous and obsessive suppression of 50 years. The Nagas have refused to subsume a role or occupy a space that is unnatural. K U K N A L I M Email: pmuinao@hotmail.com |
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