Memories
A few years ago, veteran Naga leader SC Jamir shared with me certain anecdotes about his meeting with rebel leader AZ Phizo in 1963 in London.
Apparently, the meeting was necessitated at the directives of the Government of India.
In fact, many believe that during the negotiation stage too—when Jawaharlal Nehru was Prime Minister—Indira Gandhi played a key role in trying to bring things under control in the Naga Hills.
Nagaland got statehood in 1963.
Jamir tried to be practical and impressed upon Phizo to be flexible in his approach so that peace and a lasting solution to the Naga issue could be worked out.
In the course of our discussion, I asked Jamir how much, or whether, he ever thought the Naga insurgency was encouraged by the British colonial masters just on the eve of their departure from India.
SC Jamir, a former Nagaland Chief Minister and former Governor of Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Odisha, told me:
“Many Indian officials at one point used to argue on these lines. In 1947, I was 16 years old. So I did not know much. But one thing is certain, Nagas were always a very proud community. Nagas believed we had our own world, own religion and own Naga customs. In fact, each Naga tribe had their own tradition.
“So, the idea of Naga independence was almost inbuilt. Uncle Phizo did lead us the right way.”
However, Jamir hastened to add: “But it is true, I had differences with him, especially when I began to work as a parliamentarian.
“We wanted to be practical. Once we had statehood and we and our party NNO were in power, we realised development, education and healthcare were very important to survive in the present civilisation.
“That means economy was important. We had only rice cultivation and horticulture. We were dependent on the Government of India.
“So, when I met Phizo, I told him: Economics is important. Americans are doing well today. You are in London for so long, but the British Government allowed you to stay, yet they never uttered a single word supporting you or NNC for Naga independence. Can you tell me why?”
(Jamir apparently asked this of Phizo.)
The response was: “Oh, they are just stupid.”
Jamir started laughing.
While narrating the story after so many years, Jamir was again all smiles. I too joined him almost in a natural manner of conversation.
At one point, Jamir added: “I think Phizo liked the word ‘stupid’.”
Of course, I had to ask why he thought so.
Jamir told Phizo: “Uncle, you are not at all practical. Let us try to solve the problem in your lifetime. Otherwise, we Nagas are going to suffer. We owe this to our people. The Government of India can be convinced if we also understand their position.”
Jamir went on: “But Phizo was simply not getting my point. He was not agreeing to the idea of a negotiated settlement in the manner New Delhi had drawn the parameters. Indira Gandhi and others in Delhi wanted everything within the Indian Constitution.
“I had served as an MP and a parliamentary secretary to the Ministry of External Affairs and PM Nehru. I understood the gravity of the Constitution. I was under oath. I think I said this in a jovial mood—to Phizo—‘Even one of your close relatives married an Indian Army officer.’
“Phizo understandably, according to Jamir, again said: ‘Well, she is also stupid.’
“To this Jamir reportedly told Phizo: ‘No sir; this is not stupid. This is life. When a young man and a young woman meet, many things work.’”
I knew one of SC Jamir’s sisters was married to a Dimapur-based Bengali medico, Dr S Sen.
I asked him: “Sir, even your sister married a Bengali doctor.”
Jamir was not at all embarrassed.
“Exactly,” he said. “My family members initially said so many things. I loved my sister. I told her, nothing doing. If you marry him, he is also part of our larger family.
“He was Sylheti, from the Sylhet region originally in Bangladesh.”
During Jamir’s conversation with Phizo, when it came to the British policy vis-à-vis the Naga issue, the former Chief Minister had told the Naga rebel leader:
“You know why the Britishers are silent? It is because it is they who handed over India, and that includes the Naga Hills, to the Government of India under an international law—the Indian Independence Act, 1947.
“The British Government is not stupid. The Indian Independence Act, 1947 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that partitioned British India into two new independent dominions: India and Pakistan. This law was given Royal Assent on July 18, 1947. Hence, they could not eat back their own words.”
“I was interviewed by a senior journalist in Mumbai. I told her, to a large extent, I agree to the argument that the Government of India did not create the Naga problem; they inherited it from the Britishers,” Jamir added.
Nirendra Dev
New Delhi
(The views expressed are those of the writer and not of the newspaper)
