THE NAGA STRUGGLE FOR FEEDOM AND THE INDO-NAGA PEACE TALK: By Mr. K. Timothy Zimik, IRS, Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax (Retired)

THE NAGA STRUGGLE FOR FEEDOM AND THE INDO-NAGA PEACE TALK

Author: K. Timothy Zimik, IRS

Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax (Retired)

The Naga Club of 1918

  1. A group of Naga leaders formed the Naga Club in 1918 at Kohima. The Naga Club submitted a memorandum to the Simon Commission in 1929 demanding that the Nagas should not be included within the reformed scheme of administration for British India and, as in ancient times, the Nagas should be left alone to determine their own future.

The Naga National Council (NNC) and The 9-Point Agreement

  1. The Naga National Council (NNC) formed in 1946 led the Naga struggle for self-determination. The efforts made by some NNC leaders led to the 9-Point Agreement of June 29, 1947, between those NNC leaders and the Assam Governor Sir Akbar Hydari in order to resolve the Naga political issue. However, the core NNC leaders refused to honour the Hydari agreement since they were not part of the negotiation and the terms of the agreement were not acceptable.
  2. Since the British departure from India was imminent and the fate of the Nagas undecided, the Naga leaders led by A. Z. Phizo turned to the Indian leaders including Mahatma Gandhi to recognize the Naga independence but without success. As the British were leaving India without resolving the Naga political issue, the Nagas formally declared themselves to be an independent nation on the 14thAugust 1947 and hoisted the Naga national flag.
  3. The new independent India rejected the Naga claim of sovereignty and independence. Under the leadership of A.Z. Phizo, the NNC continued the struggle for self-determination and held the plebiscite on the 16thMay, 1951 wherein 99.9 % of the Nagas reaffirmed to be a sovereign nation. India again rejected the Naga plebiscite and used force to suppress the peaceful struggle of the Nagas for their freedom. The repressive Indian military actions to subjugate the Nagas led to the unending Indo-Naga armed conflict. In the Indo-Naga war unknown to the world, thousands of Nagas were killed, innocent Nagas were arrested and herded in concentration camps like animals without food, water and sanitation, their villages, houses, granaries and properties were burned down, innocent Naga women were molested, raped and killed, and inhuman army atrocities were inflicted on them. The Indian security forces continue to commit extreme brutalities and inhuman cruelties on the Nagas.
  4. The 16-Point Agreement In July 1960, A. Z. Phizo was pleading with the people of Britain, India and the whole world to help resolve the differences between India and the Nagas, but during same time, the Naga People’s Convention was too busy collaborating and signing the 16-Point Agreement of 26 July, 1960 with the Government of India. The Naga national workers and the NNC rejected and condemned the 16-Point Agreement as a sellout. The 16-Point Agreement failed to solve the Naga political issue miserably. The Naga movement for sovereignty continues and the war of independence wages on till date.
  5. This 16-Point Agreement led to the creation of a full-fledged state of Nagaland in December, 1963 with badly worded provision with respect to the resources under Article 371A of the Indian Constitution. Admittedly, only the people of the present state of Nagaland are enjoying the fruit of this Agreement. The cease-fire and the peace talk of September 1964 to October 1967 also failed because the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi refused to entertain the Naga demand for sovereignty but instead, she offered to the Nagas everything within the Union of India. But the Nagas refused to be a part of the Union of India.

The Shillong Accord of 1975 and the NSCN of 1980

  1. The Government of India (GOI) signed an accord with a few leaders of the NNC in 1975. Though rejected and abandoned, this accord led to the formation of National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) on the 31st January of 1980 led by Thuingaleng Muivah, S. S. Khaplang and Isak ChishiSwu. But due to differences, the NSCN was split into two in 1988 – NSCN (I-M) and NSCN (K). In August 1997, the NSCN (I-M) signed a ceasefire agreement with Government of India and negotiations started between Government of India and the NSCN (I-M) to find an inclusive and honourable solution acceptable to both the Naga people and the people of India.

The Framework Agreement: A Dynamic Document

  1. In August 2015, the NSCN signed the Framework Agreement (FA) with GOI in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to arrive at the final agreement. It is stated in the FA that “the Government of India and the NSCN, respecting the people’s wishes for sharing the sovereign power as defined in the competencies, reached an agreement on the 3rdAugust, 2015 as an honourable solution”. The FA further stated that since the dialogue between the GOI and NSCN had successfully concluded, the FA “will provide for an enduring inclusive new relationship of peaceful co-existence of the two entities”.
  2. After signing the FA, the NSCN has explained the key terms contained in the FA and the decisions taken thereafter in its published booklets and official press statements. Some of them are briefly summarized as under:

(1) The Amsterdam Joint Communique dated 07/11/2002 between the GOI and NSCN states that “The government of India recognizes the unique history and position of the Nagas” which is reaffirmed by the GOI in the FA.

(2) Unique history means that “the Nagas have the history of independence. The Nagas have neither been a part of the Union of India nor that of Burma (Myanmar), nor any powers by consent or by conquest”.

(3) Unique position means that “position and situation of Nagalim is political. It is a case of invasion on Nagalim by India”.

(4) The FA acknowledges the fact that “the sovereignty of Nagalim lies with the Naga people”.

(5) By signing the FA, the Government of India admits the historical fact that the sovereign Naga people have not accepted the Indian constitution.

(6) Shared-sovereignty means that the “sovereign Indian people and the sovereign Naga people will share sovereign power in some areas as defined in the competencies”.

(7) An enduring inclusive new relationship of peaceful co-existence of the two entities means that (a) it embraces all Nagas wherever they are including all political groups, (b) a new relationship based on the Framework Agreement, and (c) co-existence of two peoples – the Indian people and the Naga people.

(8) On the questions of the Naga National flag and the constitution, the NSCN has reaffirmed that the Naga national flag and the constitution are constituent parts of sovereignty and are integral to the Naga sovereignty. Therefore, the NSCN has declared and reaffirmed that it shall defend and protect the Naga unique history, the Naga territory, the Naga sovereignty, the Naga national flag and the constitution to the last, come what may.

  1. The FA concluded with the statement that “The two sides agreed that within the framework agreement details and execution plan will be worked out and implemented shortly”. Thereafter, the NSCN and the GOI had met several times and many crucial details or competencies had been worked out and finalized. Some important competencies have not been finalized including the Naga national flag and the separate constitution. The competencies may be broadly divided into 6 parts: (1) political, (2) military, (3) economic, (4) taxation, (5) civil administration and (6) social and culture.
  2. Sometime in 2016, the author was asked to assist the Peace Negotiating Teams concerning the economic issues, taxation and civil administration. Since the author was in service, he had to work behind the scenes. When the GOI came out with the first list of accepted competencies, the author’s first task was to see whether the core competencies pertaining economic issues, taxation and civil administration submitted by the NSCN are included in the accepted competencies. And also, to identify and justify the core competencies which are submitted but not yet accepted so that the same are taken up in the next meeting. In some crucial cases, the languages used or the conclusions arrived at by the GOI were found to be unacceptable. Such competencies were renegotiated and were accepted.
  3. In the author’s considered understanding of the issues in hand, it is found that there were some important economic issues that were left out from the details submitted in the beginning itself. Naturally, the GOI will never volunteer to include such matters in the negotiation. In our protracted struggle for freedom, we have seen thousands of our people killed, properties destroyed, women raped, hopes of our people dashed, opportunities lost, peace shattered and future of young people ruined. The loss is colossal. Therefore, a new exclusive economic package over and above the normal/separate budgetary arrangement is required. This new economic development fund was included in our list of competencies and submitted to the GOI to make up the colossal loss suffered by our people. The GOI accepted this new package after a hard bargaining by our negotiating team. The required provisions to fully protect the resources particularly the minerals in all the Naga areas are also negotiated and accepted. Though the negotiation is conducted in secret, and no one is authorized to disclose the details, almost all the important competencies are in the public domain. Let no one complain that the competencies are wrapped in complete secrecy.
  4. The Framework Agreement is not a static document, but dynamic one. If any Naga or group has a very important issue that should be included in the list of competencies or some competencies are required to be re-worked or fine-tuned, it can be done any time before signing the final agreement. The door is open. When the two nations negotiate, each one tries to get the best deal. We must come together to get the best deal for the Nagas. We are dealing with the most shrewd and well-trained hardcore professionals – the world’s toughest negotiator.

THE NNPGs AND THE AGREED POSITION

  1. The GOI soon realized that the NSCN is a tough negotiator and is unwaveringly steadfast regarding its stated position in respect to the Naga national flag and the separate constitution. However, now the Nagas have become so divided, fragmented and weak that the GOI decides to exploit this weakness to the hilt and dictate terms to the Nagas. So, the first step is to discredit the NSCN. The GOI began to describe the NSCN as secessionist underground group, terrorist, extortionist, etc. It did not work. The NSCN stood its ground. Thus, the GOI was forced to look back to the pages of Naga history for an answer. It finds that a new Naga people’s Convention of 1960 is needed to destroy is own child: the Framework Agreement. Accordingly, the GOI and some Nagas quietly set up the Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs) in December, 2016 consisting of 6 Naga political groups and an agreement called the Agreed Position (AP) was signed between the GOI and the NNPGs on 17 November, 2017.

Unfortunately, this AP further complicated and derailed the Naga peace process because there cannot be two or more agreements with different armed groups to solve the Naga political issue. Taking advantage of the officially undeclared details of negotiation between the GOI and the NSCN, some competencies which were finalized between the GOI and the NSCN were hijacked, copied and included in the Agreed Position. The GOI and the NSCN had started the negotiation from 1997 and had finalized most of the competencies much before the signing of the Agreed Position in 2017. Except for the few Nagaland state centric provisions, all other details contained in the Agreed Position were already finalized between the GOI and NSCN. If the GOI was sincere, it could have simply obtained all the details including the Nagaland state centric details from the NNPGs and included in the final agreement to be arrived at between the GOI and the NSCN. But the GOI’s plan was to use the NNPGs to wreck the FA. In October2019, the GOI finally issued the ultimatum to the NSCN to sign the agreement on the terms and conditions dictated by it. Unlike the NNPGs, the NSCN refused to submit to the GOI.

Enemies Within: Collaborators

  1. A collaborator is a person who works with the enemy in a traitorous and disloyal manner against his own nation. Some senior Naga leaders have argued that certain competencies such as the Naga national flag and the separate constitution for the Nagas are not found in the FA and therefore, we cannot demand for the Naga national flag and the separate constitution. These arguments lack merit and substance. Sadly, these meritless arguments are used just to discredit the FA and sabotage the peace talk. As mentioned above, the FA is dynamic and the list of competencies is very long that includes the Naga flag and the constitution. They are also saying that the GOI will never allow the Nagas to have the Naga national flag and the separate constitution. They strongly argue that only when the Nagas become fully independent, we can have the flag and the constitution being the attributes of sovereignty. They are wrong again.
  2. Instead of fighting for the rights of the Nagas, such Naga leaders had loudly proclaimed that the Home Minister of India had told them in private that the GOI will never accept the demand for the Naga flag and the constitution. In return for favours received, these Naga leaders are speaking the language of the GOI and are willingly acting as its spokespersons. The Indo-Naga peace talk is at level of the Prime Minister and not at the level of Home Minister and therefore, let the PM himself tell the Nagas the GOI’s final decision on these two issues. The GOI is using such collaborators to bring discord and disunity amongst the Nagas mostly on tribal and regional lines. Using covert and clandestine operations, the GOI with limitless resources at their disposal have bought off many Naga leaders and generously helped those Nagas who are willingly assisting the GOI in its game of deceit, treachery and betrayal.

The Naga National Flag and the Naga National Constitution

  1. In the FA, the GOI and NSCN agreed to share sovereignty as defined in the competencies and the Naga national flag and the separate constitution has to be the basis for a negotiated political settlement between the Nagas and India. Under the Framework Agreement, we can have our own Naga national flag and separate constitution as we see in many countries of the world. The USA has its federal constitution and national flag and allows its 50 states to have their own separate constitutions different from each other and flags that represent the individual sovereignty of each state. Each state of Australia has its own constitution, its own distinct flag and not only that, each state has a Premier. These Australian states have partially ceded some sovereign rights to the federal government. China allows Macau and Hongkong their own separate flags and constitutions with high degree of autonomy. Canada’s provinces have their own distinct flags and separate constitutions. Argentina’s provinces have their own constitutions. Ethiopia allows its regions to have their own distinct flags, emblems and constitutions and the power is shared between the federal government and the regional states. There are many countries in the world like Japan, United Kingdom that allow separate flags for each of the provinces or regions.
  2. The NSCN has made its stand very clear that there will be no honourable solution to the Naga political issue without the non-negotiable Naga national flag and the separate constitution. In the author’s considered view, the GOI would have recognized the Naga national flag, the constitution provided and solved the Naga political issue a long time ago if we were not so badly divided and engaged in bitter internecine feuds. It is not that the Naga flag cannot be recognized. It can be. We had this flag yesterday, we have this flag today, and we shall have it tomorrow too. Similarly, when all the competencies / issues are resolved between the Nagas and the GOI, then the final settlement or solution shall be in the form of a constitution. This is the least we shall have. There is no place to come down further except abject surrender. We, the Nagas, were never Indians and will never be. We want to co-exist with India in peace with honour, dignity and our distinct Naga national identity.

Naga Armed Factions

  1. There are more than 26 Naga armed groups (factions) based in the state of Nagaland, 1 in the state of Manipur and may be 2 or 3 in Myanmar. Impressive. Each of them is claiming to be fighting for the Naga sovereignty and is projecting itself to be representing the Naga people. Great and they must. But whether such armed group is actually armed and fighting for the Naga cause? And whether such armed group actually represents the people of Nagalim as a whole or just the state of Nagaland or Manipur or some limited Naga areas or just the tribe it belongs to? We need to dive in and find out the truth – the truth of whether such factions have genuine justification in support of their claims. They are:

(1) Whether the group is inclusive and has the inherent mandate and mass support of the Naga People as a whole. Any group that fails this test does not represent the entire Naga people, but just a small faction. The existence of such group harms the Naga cause and the Naga unity.

(2) Whether the group has the proven record of actually and continuously fighting against India, its armed forces and other enemies of the Naga people in all fronts whether with or without ceasefire agreement and if not, then the claim of such group cannot be genuine.

(3) Whether the group has the written ceasefire agreement with the GOI and if not, then how come that the group exists and is allowed to engage in illegal activities freely with impunity. The only possible explanation is that the group is a collaborator of the GOI against the other Naga armed groups in particular and the Naga people in general.

(4) Whether the group formed by some aggrieved / disgruntled people with the backing of unscrupulous individuals are masquerading as national workers for vendetta and personal gains through mercenary activities, illegal taxations and extortions.

  1. The formation of factions/splinters does not build our Naga nation but harms it. They do not advance the interest of the Naga nation. Therefore, the activities of these factions are not true patriotism or nationalism. A true patriot or nationalist will not allow his personal and group interests above the larger interest of the Naga nation. These factions thrive because the Naga public is not questioning their harmful existence and their wrong doings and the GOI finds them useful for its divisive and nefarious designs.

External Enemies: India, Its Armed Forces & Others

  1. The Nagas considers India as enemy number one because: (1) India has subjugated the Nagas and has occupied the Naga territories without their consent. (2) India has refused to recognise the Naga nation and its independence but instead, it has unleashed its armed forces to suppress them.
  2. The state of Manipur led by the dominant community, the states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh are opposing the integration of the Naga territories or any political settlement that affects the territorial integrity of these states. There are also some communities and their armed groups that are actively assisting the Indian armed forces against the Nagas both in India and Myanmar.
  3. These external enemies can be managed with all the resources we have, but it is the internal enemies operating within our society that is actually destroying the Naga independence movement and the Naga nation.

The Role of the Naga Civil Society Organizations, the Churches, the Naga Public and the Students

  1. We all know the truth that India has successfully divided the Nagas into hostile groups, and we have allowed our enemies to exploit us with fatal consequences. To destroy the Naga movement for freedom and the Naga nation, India has used its armed forces with draconian powers such as the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, created more Naga factions with monetary benefits, arms and protection, bought off many national and CSO leaders, arrested and imprisoned national workers with false cases, pervasively infiltrated into all important Naga national institutions, tribe bodies, etc. with devastating impact, and instigated our neighbours against us.
  2. For the enemies within, there is no such thing as the Nagalim or Naga country of 90,000 plus sq. km comprising the present state of Nagaland, the Naga areas of Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Myanmar. When we talk about a nation, the most important ingredient of a nation is the emotional bonding of the people. If we destroy the emotional bonding of the Naga people, we have destroyed the Naga nation. What is remaining is nothing but just a collection of one or two Naga tribes or villages and not a Naga nation. The vested interests of enemies within are so strongly entrenched and deeply rooted that numerous attempts made by many well-meaning people to bring the factions, splinter groups and stakeholders together through persuasion, prayer or reconciliation have not succeeded. We have refused to listen to church and community leaders even when they have prayerfully invoked God’s name to come together and unite. Rather all we have is: egoistic narrow-mindedness, vendetta, selfishness, tribalism, individual ambition and all-pervasive malpractices. This is the harsh reality. Fortunately, the Naga people and the Naga youths in particular are angry, frustrated and disillusioned with the national workers who are endlessly engaging in factional feuds instead of solving the Naga political issue together unitedly. They are also vocal and firm in expressing their disapproval of the mushrooming of factions/splinter groups and their anti-Naga activities. As is happening in our neighbouring countries, the Naga youths and students should lead the protest against the factions, groups and individuals who are harming the Naga unity and the Naga independence movement. They should not be allowed to destroy the Naga nation and its future.
  3. The inner voice of the Naga people is calling all the Nagas, national political groups, civil society organizations, tribal bodies, churches and students to come together, unite and, in one voice, solve the Naga political issue.

Disclaimer: The statements made and views expressed in this Article are the author’s personal views.