As the chief minister of Nagaland has reportedly said, the demand for Frontier Nagaland state is not wrong. The fundamental basis of demand by Eastern Nagaland People’s Organization (ENPO) for Frontier Nagaland state is development, or lack of it. The general understanding, it seems, is that the eastern districts of Nagaland remained neglected by successive governments ever since Nagaland attained statehood and that it can develop at par with other states only if and when it is separated from Nagaland state. The eastern districts are represented by 20 of the 60 Assembly seats in the state since 1973 but that does not factor in. A new state, it is argued, will ensure development of the eastern districts.
In other words, statehood is seen as a resource here. As stated in this column earlier, there are more than 40 active statehood demands in India as of today, including a number of them in the Northeast region. All of these demands are fundamentally based on seeing the state as a resource for development, barring a few whose demands are based on linguistics and other social issues. The power to create new states lies with the center. Granting statehood to ‘Frontier Nagaland’ would be like opening the proverbial Pandora’s Box for the union government at this juncture. It is not impossible, but it appears like it would require more than what is being said as of now for the center to create Frontier Nagaland. Politics of statehood demands is like an all pervasive affair in India. It has been so since Independence.
Interestingly, the demand for Frontier Nagaland is not against Naga political settlement. It is too early to determine whether the demand can be defined as within or against the Naga political movement that predates India’s independence. The Indian agencies, it is hoped, are not involved in this demand for Frontier Nagaland. It is now in public knowledge that former Home Secretary, GK Pillai played a pivotal role in sowing the seeds of Frontier Nagaland.
The die has been cast. As ENPO has declared, there is now no room for negotiations and there is no turning back. It is hoped that the movement for Frontier Nagaland statehood demand would not lead to violence and bloodshed. Let it remain a democratic movement. It is hoped that this movement will not become a movement that lacks humane approach.
Time will tell whether Frontier Nagaland will come to fruition or not, or what the eventual outcome of the movement would be like. However, it should not be at the cost of Naga peoplehood. Let the spirit of Naganess remain intact. Even if Frontier Nagaland was to be created, the objective should be about peaceful coexistence among the people as Nagas and as neighbours. People to people relations should not be tampered with. In fact, it is suggested that conscientious citizens from both sides should start working on building relationships that would last beyond the demand for Frontier Nagaland. Regardless of whether the new state comes into being or not, certain sections of the people need to be already doing the homework to ensure that there is mutual respect, healthy relations and peaceful coexistence among the Naga people.