At the outset I want to thank God, the Almighty for giving us this opportunity to come together and meet one another in this manner.
I want to thank the President Naga Students Federation, MedoviRhi and his colleagues for initiating this program—The Naga Morung. This second edition of The Naga Morung, I believe will once again help us open our eyes to the pages of history as well as to the realities of thepresent-daypolitical dynamics and socio-economic occurrences affecting andshaping the course of our lives.
I want to thank the Naga Students’ Union Chandel and the village of LiwaSarei for wholeheartedly hosting this program.
I am truly delighted to be here today. Infact, I owe an apology to the LiwaSarei village, in particular the Mongsang Students’ Union,Chandel and the Mongsang tribe in general for my inability to be with you when I was invited to be the Chief Guest on the occasion of the 25th Jubilee celebration of the MongsangStudents’ Union, Chandel.
I want to thank the Naga Students’ Union Chandel and the NSF, it is through them today that I am here in your midst.
I am also truly delighted to be sharing this platform after a long gapalong with my longtime friends and associates,SomipumLungleng, Dr. NeinguloKrome, Secretary General NPMHR, Prof. Rosemary Dzüvichu, who was my lecturer in Kohima College. To all the former NSF leaders, all the constituents units of NSF,ANSAM, UNC, Church leaders, NMA, Naga Women’s Union Manipur, Naga Women’s Union Chandelpresent here. I extend my respect toChingmak Chang, President ENSF, AtimiuMakury, President, ENSA, all other program officials whom I am unable to mention by name.
Naga leaders seated on the dais and off the dais, Naga leaders young and old, gathered here from different profession and walks of life,friends from the press fraternity.
It is truly an honor for me to be invited to this prestigious program, The Naga Morung and to be delivering the keynote address.
Without much ado, I would like to take us back to a briefhistoricalaccountof Nagas as struggling people, desiring to be free people, living as we were before British colonialism came to our land.
A brief historical overview
Nagas are a group of tribes known for our distinct cultures, languages, dialects and our rich traditions. We are inhabitants of the North-Eastern part of India and inhabitants of a substantial portion of Burma now Myanmar. Aside from the state of Nagaland, which is wholly inhabited by the Naga people, a significant Naga population resides in Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam in India.
Nagas have resisted any alienrule; this is recounted as early as 1832 when the first Anglo-Khonoma,(AngamiNaga) battle was fought. It took the British as many as 11 expeditions losing a lot of lives to subjugate two Angami villages. The British described the expedition as extraordinary stubbornness on the part of the KhonomaAngami Naga.
Prior to the battle and encounter with the British, our forefathers have actively resisted any form of intrusion to our land by the Ahoms, the Dimasa, the Kacharis, the Manipurisand Burmese.
In 1929, Naga people submitted a memorandum to the British–Simon Commission which was a statutory commission to report on the working of the Indian Constitution, established by the Govt. of India Act, 1919. The outcome of the Simon Commission was the Govt. of India Act 1935. As per the demand of the Naga Memorandum to the Simon Commission, the Govt. of India Act, 1935 left the Nagas outside the reform scheme of India and placed the Naga people under the “Excluded Area” category. This was later unilaterally abrogated by the Govt. of India.
Sensing the British Parliament preparedness to grant Independence to India, Naga people went to Delhi to meet Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Indian Nation to ascertain the Naga people’s position from himon 19thJuly, 1947, wherein Mahatma Gandhi told the Naga delegation that “Nagas have every right to be independent.”
Following this assurance, the Naga people declared our independence on 14th August, 1947, one day before India declared independence. The message of the declaration of independence was sent to the Government of India, to the King of England, to the Secretary General of UNO and the offices of all the embassies in New Delhi.
To further authenticate, legitimize and endorse the declaration of Naga Independence, the Nagas under the aegis of Naga National Council (NNC), Nagaplebiscite was conducted on May 16th 1951 wherein 99.9% voted in favor of independent Naga homeland.
The visit of the Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru andBurmese Premier U Nu to Kohima and Khamti in 1953 was a harbinger of gruesome history in Indo-Naga relations; an indiscriminate demarcation of boundary was carved between India and Burma without the consultation of the Naga people and notably dividing the Konyak country into different nationswith an international border cutting right through the middle of the house of the Angh of Longwa Village in Mon District, which was followed by an onset of bloodshed andagonybecause of open conflict between the Nagas and the Indian armed forces.
Movement for integration of Naga inhabited areas
The Naga resistance to foreign rule which started in isolated pockets in its earliest form gradually evolved into a Naga National Movement. The Naga National Council (NNC), under the visionary leadership of A.Z Phizogave a distinct identity and clear direction to Naga Nationalism byrepresenting the entire Naga People with the objective of integrating all the Naga Inhabited Areas.
In order to appease the Nagas, the Government of India entered into a 16 Point Agreement with some Naga overground leaders who had formed the Naga Peoples’ Convention in 1960 which led to the creation of the present Nagaland state.
The 13th Point of the 16 Point Agreement reads—“The other Naga tribes inhabiting the areas contiguous to the present Nagaland be allowed to join the State of Nagaland if they so desire.”
In keeping with the spirit and letter of this agreement and upholding the desire and aspiration of the Naga People to live together under one Administrative Umbrella, The Nagaland Legislative Assembly has passed resolutions on several occasions for the integration of all Naga Inhabited Areas, including on 12 December 1964 during the Chief Ministership of P. ShiluAo, on 28 August 1970, during the Chief Ministership of HokisheSema, on 16 September 1994, during the Chief Ministership of Dr. S.C Jamir, on 18 December 2003 during the Chief Ministership of Dr. Neiphiu Rio and most recently, on 27 July 2015 during the Chief Ministership of T.R.Zeliang.
The desire of the Nagas to live together under one administrative unit should not be undermined or compromised.
Communal Harmony
In the last couple of years, the state of Manipur has seen a massive demographic upheaval that has resulted in loss of precious innocent lives and property, and internal displacement of people.
This conflict has also polarized the populace of the present state of Manipur into opposing camps. While it is not my intention to delve into the whys and hows of the conflict, I want to remind the people, and not just the Nagas, that eventually, after the flames of violence simmer down, we must accept the undeniable fact that nobody can live in a vacuum. Nobody can live in a world where one neighbor is in perpetual distrust or hatred of the other.
We, the people must find a way to peacefully co-exist with each other. It is imperative that we find and explore ways to settle our differences without resorting to mindless violence. Violence only perpetuates violence without settling anything, a vicious circle of hatred, suspicion and fear that has no end.
I take this opportunity to call upon all the stakeholders to desist from perpetrating violence on the other people with impunity but engage in people-to-people dialogues and find non-violent ways to settle conflicts.
Free Movement Regime (FMR)
The Free Movement Regime, which was established in 2018 as part of India’s Act East Policy has been making headlines for the Nagas in recent times. The unilateral decision of the Government of India to scrap the FMR has caused unrest and apprehension among the people living in India-Myanmar border in the north-eastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram.
The Naga people living in these border areas are also going to be severely impacted by the border-fencing construction that has already started in some places. In this context, in solidarity with the various tribal bodies and organizations that have come out publicly against scrapping of FMR, the 14th Nagaland Legislative Assembly has also passed a resolution on FMR along the Indo-Myanmar Border, stating that suspension of FMR will cause immense hardship and inconvenience and add agony to the Naga people living in the Indo-Myanmar border areas.
The efforts thatarebeing put in by various CSO’s, student bodies and other groups must be intensified. We must let the Government of India realize in no uncertain terms that the Nagas are not in favor of further dividing the Naga people by constructing a physical fencing along the border.
The Present Scenario
Various Naga Political Groupshave enteredinto a ceasefire agreement with the Government of India since 1997, some of whom are engaged in political negotiations. As a result, the Government of India have signed two major Agreements with the Nagas, the Framework Agreement on 3rd August 2015 with the NSCN (I-M) and the Agreed Position with the working committee of the Naga National Political Groups in November2017.
The fact that the Government of Indiaand the Naga Political Groups are engaging in political dialogues is indicative of the desire of both India and the Naga People to enter into a negotiated political settlement.While there are contentious issues and demands that areyet to be mutually agreed upon, we must not let this stalemate-like situation regress into a complete breakdown of political negotiation which will only set us back by decades. It will render all the effortswe have put in collectively the last three decades and the progress we have achieved towards an acceptable negotiated settlement futile and worthless.
Subsequent to the signing of the Framework Agreement on 3rd August 2015, Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, on a two-day trip to UAE, had exultantlydeclared to 50,000expatriate Indians on 17th August at Dubai, “I want to talk about Nagaland. Less than a month ago, we moved ahead successfully with different factions of Nagaland after 60-70 years of insurgency. I am citing Nagaland because I want to tell people across the world, including the youth, that however complicated a problem might be, it can be solved through dialogue.”
The Government of India must also have the political will and the sincerity to enter into a political settlement that is honorable, acceptable and inclusive of all the Nagas. Thespontaneous display of optimism exhibited by PM Modi that particular day at Dubaishould not be mere lip-service to an adoring crowd of expatriates. This conviction and belief in problem-solving through dialogue must be demonstrated in the political arena.
Civil Societies
At this juncture in our history, the most pivotal role must be borne by the Naga Civil Organizations. The social support structure that we have built over the years through the students’ organizations, youth organizations, women organizations, human rights organizations, tribal bodies, churches, etc, must be strengthened and re-vitalized. In a perfect world, Rights should be bestowed. But we do not live in a perfect world, therefore! Rights must be demanded and fought for.
Sooner or later, it is the voice of the people that will prevail.
Thank you
KUKNALIM