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Naga Insurgency - Time for a Speedy Solution

Creation of autonomous councils in the Naga-dominated areas of Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh looks like a way out at this moment for solving the long-standing

Naga

Sentinel Digital DeskBy : Sentinel Digital Desk

  |  28 May 2022 4:16 AM GMT

Amitava Mukherjee

(Amitava Mukherjee is a senior journalist and commentator. He can be contacted at amitavamukherjee253@gmail.com)

Creation of autonomous councils in the Naga-dominated areas of Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh looks like a way out at this moment for solving the long-standing Naga imbroglio. It may not be possible for the Government of India to accede to the NSCN (I-M) group's demand for a separate flag and constitution for the Nagas, but here again expert committees may be formed to study Naga laws, customs and location specific histories in the autonomous council areas and codify them for protecting Naga identities. Thus may be found a middle path for weaning away the NSCN (I-M) from their demand of incorporating the Naga-dominated areas of other Northeastern Indian states in a 'greater Nagalim'.

A solution to the vexed issue of 'mother of all insurgencies' in India is urgently necessary because the next Nagaland Assembly election is scheduled to be held early next year. After the formation of the next Assembly, any new legislative arrangement will become impossible as the incumbent MLAs have already stated that they would not resign, if re-elected. So New Delhi is witnessing a flurry of activities. A ten-member delegation of the NSCN (I-M) group has met AK Misra, interlocutor from the side of the Government of India. Other Naga leaders are also meeting ministers and government functionaries. Still there is no information that any conclusive breakthrough has been made on the twin question of a separate flag and constitution of the Nagas.

The Government of India may not accept the demand for a separate Naga flag and constitution. Up to this point it has logic on its side because acceding to such a demand will mean opening up the floodgate of such demands in other Northeastern states. But it should have taken extreme precaution before signing the 2015 Framework Agreement with the NSCN (I-M). In the wake of a face-off with RN Ravi, the then interlocutor, the NSCN released the secret agreement which talked of "sharing the sovereign power" and an " enduring inclusive new relationship of peaceful coexistence of the two ( the NSCN and the Indian Government) entities".

Now every discerning person would accept that the agreement had willy-nilly given the NSCN what it wanted. "Sharing of sovereign power" can ingeniously be interpreted as extending the right of exercising some kind of sovereignty to the NSCN while the two words "new relationship" add further strength to the above premise. From the side of the Government of India, it was an unwise act. Even today this is standing in the way of an inclusive agreement.

There are other impediments too. Is New Delhi giving too much importance to the NSCN (I-M) group? This group is numerically superior, has around 6,000 armed cadres but its hold over the Naga society is not that complete. It is basically an organization of Tangkhul Nagas who dominate four districts of Manipur – Ukhrul, Senapati,, Chandel and Tamenglong. The group has some support among the Sema and Zeliang tribes of Nagaland too. Although SS Khaplang, leader of the other faction of the NSCN is no more, there is no cogent ground to believe that the Ao and the Konyak tribes, who had pledged their loyalty to Khaplang, had switched sides in favour of the NSCN (I-M). It is also to be kept in mind that the Konyaks are one of the most ferocious of all the Naga tribes and without their active cooperation neither the NSCN (I-M) nor the Government of India will be able to bring peace in Nagaland.

Perhaps the Government of India is treading a wrong path. Their confabulation with the NSCN (I-M) is all right but the over-importance given to it by New Delhi is not sign of mature statesmanship. Moreover, bringing peace to Nagaland should not be the job of any Intelligence official, it should be reserved for any statesman-like figure. To what extent does the words of the NSCN(I-M) carry conviction with the Naga people? Its camps were once attacked by the Sema tribe although its former president Issac Swu was himself a Sema. The Naga society is a deeply divided one. The NSCN had broken away from the Naga National Council (NNC). It itself got divided into two. Then several other tribes like the Chang, Konyak, Phom, Khaimnuiungon, Yimchunger and Sangtam had also split from the NSCN. In government parlance very few words are reserved for the NNC. But can anyone say that it has lost all its relevance in Naga affairs? The names of not only AZ Phizo, its towering leader, but that of Mwou Angami, the famed leader of Naga resistance, are still remembered with much honour and reverence on the streets of Kohima and Dimapur.

This fractured character of the Naga society is now standing in the way of a final solution. The Naga National Political Group (NNPG), an umbrella organization of seven armed groups, have already expressed that there is a scope for a separate flag for the Nagas within the scope of the 'Agreed Position' that it had signed with the Government of India in 2017. According to the PTI, quoted by another news website, the NNPG is in favour of signing the final accord and then continue negotiations with the Government of India.

But unless all the issues are thrashed out beforehand, this may create problems in future as has been the case with the Framework Agreement that RN Ravi had signed with the NSCN (I-M). Unless the Central Government finds a way out to iron out this bad blood, entering into any final accord at this time may not be advisable. The NNPG has questioned NSCN (I-M)'s knowledge of Naga history, while the latter has spewed venom on the former and said that it will not be part of any NNPG solution for a final settlement and has called the NNPG's Agreed Position' with the Indian Government a betrayal of the Naga cause.

Only a respected statesman can untangle the knots at this juncture. But no such person, whose acceptability to the Naga society is beyond question, is in sight.

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