Stranger than fiction

The history of Naga people is arguably one of the saddest in modern world history, one that seems to get more complicated with each passing decade. As former colonies became independent during the post-colonial era, the Naga political consciousness was just getting awakened. The post-colonial age refers to the period since 1945, when numerous colonies and possessions of major Western countries began to gain independence, in the wake of the end of World War II. As the British were about to leave the Indian sub-continent and former colonies India and Myanmar were about to gain independence from the yoke of British colonialism, the fate of the Naga people along with numerous other ethnic peoples of the regions were about to be altered forever. Eventually, when the British left, the international boundary between India and Myanmar was drawn cutting right across the Naga homeland. The rest, as they say, is history. Now, on the Indian side of the international boundary, the Naga lands have been placed under four different states as of today. If the demand for Frontier Nagaland state were to be granted, Naga lands would be further divided and placed under five states!

The demand for unification or integration of contiguous Naga inhabited areas of present Nagaland state and parts of Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam is not new. In fact, it predates India’s independence. The submission of Naga memorandum to Simon Commission in 1929, the formation of Naga National Council and the 9-Point Agreement of 1947 all placed on record the Naga people’s desire for living under one administrative umbrella. However, whether by design or accident, the case for Naga territorial integration has never been practicably achievable. Even after the formation of Nagaland state, which was brought about by the 16-point agreement, the Nagaland Legislative Assembly has on six occasions passed resolutions for the integration of contiguous Naga inhabited areas. The Nagaland legislative assembly in September 2018 unanimously adopted a resolution on the integration of the contiguous Naga-inhabited areas for all Nagas to live under one administrative umbrella. This was the 6th resolution of the Nagaland Legislative Assembly on the matter. It had prior to this passed similar resolutions in 1964, 1970, 1994, 2003 and 2015.

It goes without saying that no union government would ever redraw state boundaries without the consent of the affected states. And, quite naturally, the states of Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh would not agree to the Nagaland Legislative Assembly’s resolutions, let alone the Naga nationalist groups. That is not surprising. However, what is quite surprising – or saddening – is that it is the Naga people themselves who are now advocating for more division and further disintegration. The Nagas of Arunachal Pradesh are constitutionally no longer recognized as Naga tribes; the Nagas of Manipur are looked upon with suspicion by the Nagas of Nagaland state generally speaking; and the Nagas of eastern Nagaland state are demanding for a state of their own. Even within Nagaland state, there are three blocs formed along tribal lines. Meanwhile, the Nagas of Assam are often neglected from the larger Naga discourse while the plight of Nagas in Myanmar remains largely unknown to the rest of the Nagas in India. Surely, the Naga story is turning out to be stranger than fiction.