y: Dr.Khomdon Singh Lisam
The history of Naga National movement is a long and tragic history . The Nagas have suffered to the extreme and have made great sacrifice to achieve Independence.
However, in view of the changing world political scenario, it is now time for them to rethink their strategy and goals. Vision and ambition is one thing , practicality is another thing .. They should think in terms of tangible results. It is their great wisdom that the Nagas have dropped their earlier demand of Independence from India. By September 1975, the Naga underground leaders were agreeable for the first time “ not to insist on independence as a precondition”. A six member underground delegation led by Kevi Yallya (Phizo’s brother) met L.P. Singh, Governor of Assam on 10 November, 1975 at Raj Bhavan, Shillong, which led to the signing of the “Shillong Accord”. On November 11, 1975, the “Shillong Accord” was signed between the Government of India and the NNC.( Naga National Council) Under this agreement, the NNC had agreed (1) to accept the solution of the Naga problem within the framework of the Indian Constitution, (2) abjure violence, bring out the armed men (3) to surrender weapons and resolve the residual problems through discussions.
Now their demand is Greater Nagaland or Nagalim or Southern Nagaland. It is a great achievement for them to have raised from “a village republic” to “Statehood”. The following are some of the historical facts and the general views of the common people of Manipur .
1. How many Naga tribes are there ? One early British military explorer in 1879 suggested 18 . Seventeen years later, a survey listed nine . In 1921, Hutton listed 14 as did Edwin in 1961, in the 1970 Horam gave 30 and Yonuo 38.Both these include some groups living in Burma, and a number of groups who would probably not have counted themselves as Nagas fifty years ago, but who for various reasons find it appropriate or advantageous to do so today” (Julian Jacobs, The Nagas, Hill Peoples of North east India Thames and Hudson Ltd, London–1998, page-20).
The different Naga tribes speak as many as thirty different dialects. There is no common language . The official language is English which is understood by few.. Many of these Naga tribes have unrelenting histories of internecine conflict. (Gill, 2001). There is enmity between Angamis, Koyaks, Lhotas, Tangkuls as evidenced from recent violence and killings in Nagaland.
2. Many of the so called Nagas so far identified recently belonged to Kukis of comparatively small population groups and they have agreed to be categorised as Nagas fearing violence from the Naga underground elements. The Nagas believed that this will increase Naga population and enlarge the Naga territory
3. The important factor in the development of Naga national consciousness and the only unifying force among the Nagas was Christianity–specifically that of the American Baptist Church. The Nagas called “ Nagaland for Christ “ with a view to win the Christian world on their side. The first American Baptist missionaries were invited into the Naga Hills by early British explorers such as Major Jenkins in the 1830s.
4. The “unique history of the Nagas” is that they do not have any written history. Nagas did not have a Raja or a King. Nagas did not have a well defined kingdom or territory. Even the term Naga was given by outsiders. Every village of every tribe was an independent republic in its own right. No tribe had ever ruled over any other tribe or any village over any other village. Naga society was literally the village .(Charles Chasie, The Naga Imbroglio-A personal perspective, United Publishers, Guwahati, 1999.). Moreover, there are many tribes in the north eastern India having such similar history .
5. The Nagas sing the National Anthem, probably borrowed from America in English . On 22 March, 1956, the NNC. set up its government–“Naga Central Government” replacing the earlier “Sovereign Republic of Nagaland “ set up in September, 1954 and hoisted the republic’s flag at Phesinyu, a Rengma village . An elaborate ceremony was organized with the singing of their National Anthem .:
God bless my Nagaland
Land that I love,
Stand beside her and guide her ,
Through the night with the light from above
From the mountains and the valleys
And the hill-tops where I roam,
God bless my Nagaland
My home , sweet home,
This song was probably borrowed from the American patriotic song originally written by Irving Berlin in 1918 “ God bless America”, which runs as follows :-
God Bless America,
Land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam
God bless America, My home sweet home.
Irving Berlin originally wrote the song in 1918 while serving in the U.S. Army at Camp Upton in Yaphank, New York. The song was popularised by singer Kate Smith who introduced the revised version during her radio broadcast on Armistice Day, 1938. "God Bless America" is a quintessentially American song. This anthem, with its history, is meaningful for Americans, but how does it resonate with the Nagas ?
6. In the pamphlet entitled Bedrock of Naga Society published by the Nagaland State Congress Party (Chief minister S.C. Jamir /NPCC, 2000), they raised the question “is it really true that Nagas have been a separate independent entity from time immemorial ? The same pamphlet gave the answer as follows -
“The stark and inescapable truth is that neither did we have a definite and unified political structure and nor did we exist as a nation. We were actually a group of heterogeneous, primitive and diverse tribes living in far-flung villages that had very little in common and negligible contact with each other. Each village was practically an entity in itself. The main contact between villages was through the savage practice of headhunting. Mutual suspicion and distrust was rife. Internecine warfare was the order of the day. There was no trust or interaction between different tribes. In these circumstances, the question of a unified Naga nation did not arise (NPCC, 2000).
7. The First World War show the seed of Naga National movement. During 1914-1919. the Naga National movement began during the First World War when a Labor Corps of about 4,000 Nagas, were sent to France, where they saw great civilized nations fighting for their ends and interests while Nagas were condemned as barbarous for their head hunting ways (Yunuo, 1974: 125; cited in Eaton, 1997: 256).
In 1918, after returning from France, twenty Nagas including few government officials and leading Naga chiefs formed an organisation known as the “Naga Club” at Kohima for promoting the interests of the Nagas. The Club was informally supported by local British administrators mainly Mr. Charles Pawsay, the then Deputy Commissioner. When Indian Independence was imminent, this same Naga Club transformed itself into Naga National Council (NNC) in 1946, at the behest of Mr. Charles Pawsay. Pawsay was rewarded and became Sir Charles Pawsay. Thus, a mere club became a National Council or Parliament. The first stirrings of Naga nationalism were prompted or at least encouraged by certain British Colonial Officers, who felt that the “distinctiveness of Naga culture” would be at risk in an united India. It will be recalled that the crystallization of the “tribes, Nagas” were itself aided, if not created, by British administrators and anthropologists.
8. The demographic realities does not support at all the Naga Cease Fire Extension and demand for Greater Nagaland or Nagalim .
• Senapati district is a pro-ceasefire and pro-NSCN area where apart from Nagas, there are Thadous (23060), Vaipheis(3057), Paites(202), Mizo(298), Kom(2602), Koireng(762), Koirao(918), Kabui(3702), Hmar(138), Gangte (347), Chiru (2064)and Aimol (86), who have openly protested against the extension of ceasefire to Manipur and vehemently opposed the idea of Greater Nagaland. Thus about 56% of the district population do not support the claim for Greater Nagaland.
• In Tamenglong district also, the population group of Thadous and other categories vehemently opposed the extension of ceasefire to Manipur and the idea of Greater Nagaland.
• Ukhrul district is the birthplace of Th. Muivah, General Secretary of NSCN(IM). He has recruited a large number of Tangkhul youths to the NSCN cadres . But not all Tangkhuls are followers of Th. Muivah. Shri Rishang Keising and Youngmasho Shaiza were two prominent and popular Tangkhul leaders who, in spite of small size of Tangkhul population ruled Manipur as Chief Ministers of Manipur for more than 12 years and in whose time many resolutions opposing the demands of Greater Nagaland were passed unanimously by the State Legislative Assembly. Shri Rishang Keising is presently the Rajya Sabha M.P. nominated by the State Government of Manipur as Congress nominee. This shows the lack of unanimity of the demand for Greater Nagaland even among the Tangkhul Nagas.
10. The NSCN-IM is led by Isak Chisi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah. The outfit aims to establish a “Greater Nagaland” (‘Nagalim’ or the People’s Republic of Nagaland) based on Mao Tse Tung’s ideology. The outfit has also established a government-in-exile called the Government of the People’s Republic of Nagaland (GPRN). It has an estimated 4,500 strong cadre base. It is supported by a section of Aos, Semas, Zeilangs, Anals, Maos and Manipur-based Tangkhul Nagas. The NSCN (IM) has been passing its annual budget to the tune of Rs 200 million to Rs 250 million each year. It is alleged that drug trafficking from Myanmar is reported to be a major source of income for the NSCN-IM, and it also reportedly engages in extortion, bank robberies and other criminal pursuits to obtain finance. NSCN-IM uses money earned through narcotics trade to buy arms and also pay for training of their cadres. http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/states/nagaland/terrorist_outfits/Nscn_im.htm )
11. The NSCN (IM)’s territorial claims to Kuki inhabited areas in Manipur and Assam is pregnant with the seeds of a bloody ethnic conflict. Kukis, who co-inhabit the hill districts of Senapati, Chandel, Tamenglong and Ukhrul in Manipur with the various Naga tribes, are averse to the concept of a Greater Nagaland or Nagalim or Southern Nagaland.
12. The ethnic cleansing perpetrated by the NSCN (IM) on the Kuki inhabitants of these districts between the summer of 1992 and winter of 1995 was perhaps intended to evict the Kukis from the so called Naga Territory or force them to identify themselves as Naga but the land belong to the Kukis for many centuries. Thus the NSCN has earned the image of “perpetrators of genocide”
13. The Kukis vehemently objected to the idea of integrating Naga areas of Manipur, which ultimately led to “Quit Notice “ and “Ethnic Cleaning “perpetrated by the NSCN leading a serious communal clash between the Nagas and Kukis in 1992-1994 where more than 900 innocent people were killed . In the Zoupi ( Tamenglong) in the massacre of 13 September, 1993, about 90 Kuki men were hacked to death with machetes. On 13 September, 1993, 13 infants were butchered to death in front of their mothers. On 7 June, 1993 at Khatong, Sadar Hills, 8 women were raped and then killed along with three men and three children .On 8 October, 1992, at Moultuh in Chandel district , three women were killed after being raped . Two men and one two month old child was also killed. On 19 November, 1994 at Thingsan in Chandel district, NSCN-IM cadres dressed in Indian Security Forces uniforms killed 25 Kuki men (P.S. Haokip, Zale’n-Gam, the Kuki Nation , Kuki National Organisation , 1998 – page- 530)
16. It is alleged that the NSCN (IM) openly indulged in terrorist activities like kidnapping, extortion, illegal drug trafficking, imposing compulsory tax to commercial vehicles running in the national highways. According to the World Geopolitics of Drugs 1995-1996 Report, the two branches of NSCN collect a “tax” of 20% of the value of drugs passing through the area under their control in Nagaland (The World Geopolitics of Drugs 1998-1999-Annual Report). This has become an open secret .
17. The NSCN imposed a tax on every commercial vehicle, charging Rs. 3000-5,000 per trip. Receipts for such collections are openly issued in the name of the Government of the People’s Republic of Nagaland. In 1996, the first public protest against the NSCN(IM)’s extortion on the national highway—the sole supply line running through the Naga hill areas into the Manipur valley—was led by the Manipur Truck Drivers Association. The Meitei public supported this strike even though it led to a severe shortage of essential commodities and inflation. Despite such protests, the practice continues, and the current rate is reported to be Rs. 10,000. During such lengthy blockade of the National Highway sponsored by the NSCN(IM), there was a great scarcity of food in the valley and food have to be transported by air by the Government of India from neighbouring states. This weakened the claims of the NSCN(IM).
y: Dr.Khomdon Singh Lisam
The history of Naga National movement is a long and tragic history . The Nagas have suffered to the extreme and have made great sacrifice to achieve Independence.
However, in view of the changing world political scenario, it is now time for them to rethink their strategy and goals. Vision and ambition is one thing , practicality is another thing .. They should think in terms of tangible results. It is their great wisdom that the Nagas have dropped their earlier demand of Independence from India. By September 1975, the Naga underground leaders were agreeable for the first time “ not to insist on independence as a precondition”. A six member underground delegation led by Kevi Yallya (Phizo’s brother) met L.P. Singh, Governor of Assam on 10 November, 1975 at Raj Bhavan, Shillong, which led to the signing of the “Shillong Accord”. On November 11, 1975, the “Shillong Accord” was signed between the Government of India and the NNC.( Naga National Council) Under this agreement, the NNC had agreed (1) to accept the solution of the Naga problem within the framework of the Indian Constitution, (2) abjure violence, bring out the armed men (3) to surrender weapons and resolve the residual problems through discussions.
Now their demand is Greater Nagaland or Nagalim or Southern Nagaland. It is a great achievement for them to have raised from “a village republic” to “Statehood”. The following are some of the historical facts and the general views of the common people of Manipur .
1. How many Naga tribes are there ? One early British military explorer in 1879 suggested 18 . Seventeen years later, a survey listed nine . In 1921, Hutton listed 14 as did Edwin in 1961, in the 1970 Horam gave 30 and Yonuo 38.Both these include some groups living in Burma, and a number of groups who would probably not have counted themselves as Nagas fifty years ago, but who for various reasons find it appropriate or advantageous to do so today” (Julian Jacobs, The Nagas, Hill Peoples of North east India Thames and Hudson Ltd, London–1998, page-20).
The different Naga tribes speak as many as thirty different dialects. There is no common language . The official language is English which is understood by few.. Many of these Naga tribes have unrelenting histories of internecine conflict. (Gill, 2001). There is enmity between Angamis, Koyaks, Lhotas, Tangkuls as evidenced from recent violence and killings in Nagaland.
2. Many of the so called Nagas so far identified recently belonged to Kukis of comparatively small population groups and they have agreed to be categorised as Nagas fearing violence from the Naga underground elements. The Nagas believed that this will increase Naga population and enlarge the Naga territory
3. The important factor in the development of Naga national consciousness and the only unifying force among the Nagas was Christianity–specifically that of the American Baptist Church. The Nagas called “ Nagaland for Christ “ with a view to win the Christian world on their side. The first American Baptist missionaries were invited into the Naga Hills by early British explorers such as Major Jenkins in the 1830s.
4. The “unique history of the Nagas” is that they do not have any written history. Nagas did not have a Raja or a King. Nagas did not have a well defined kingdom or territory. Even the term Naga was given by outsiders. Every village of every tribe was an independent republic in its own right. No tribe had ever ruled over any other tribe or any village over any other village. Naga society was literally the village .(Charles Chasie, The Naga Imbroglio-A personal perspective, United Publishers, Guwahati, 1999.). Moreover, there are many tribes in the north eastern India having such similar history .
5. The Nagas sing the National Anthem, probably borrowed from America in English . On 22 March, 1956, the NNC. set up its government–“Naga Central Government” replacing the earlier “Sovereign Republic of Nagaland “ set up in September, 1954 and hoisted the republic’s flag at Phesinyu, a Rengma village . An elaborate ceremony was organized with the singing of their National Anthem .:
God bless my Nagaland
Land that I love,
Stand beside her and guide her ,
Through the night with the light from above
From the mountains and the valleys
And the hill-tops where I roam,
God bless my Nagaland
My home , sweet home,
This song was probably borrowed from the American patriotic song originally written by Irving Berlin in 1918 “ God bless America”, which runs as follows :-
God Bless America,
Land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam
God bless America, My home sweet home.
Irving Berlin originally wrote the song in 1918 while serving in the U.S. Army at Camp Upton in Yaphank, New York. The song was popularised by singer Kate Smith who introduced the revised version during her radio broadcast on Armistice Day, 1938. "God Bless America" is a quintessentially American song. This anthem, with its history, is meaningful for Americans, but how does it resonate with the Nagas ?
6. In the pamphlet entitled Bedrock of Naga Society published by the Nagaland State Congress Party (Chief minister S.C. Jamir /NPCC, 2000), they raised the question “is it really true that Nagas have been a separate independent entity from time immemorial ? The same pamphlet gave the answer as follows -
“The stark and inescapable truth is that neither did we have a definite and unified political structure and nor did we exist as a nation. We were actually a group of heterogeneous, primitive and diverse tribes living in far-flung villages that had very little in common and negligible contact with each other. Each village was practically an entity in itself. The main contact between villages was through the savage practice of headhunting. Mutual suspicion and distrust was rife. Internecine warfare was the order of the day. There was no trust or interaction between different tribes. In these circumstances, the question of a unified Naga nation did not arise (NPCC, 2000).
7. The First World War show the seed of Naga National movement. During 1914-1919. the Naga National movement began during the First World War when a Labor Corps of about 4,000 Nagas, were sent to France, where they saw great civilized nations fighting for their ends and interests while Nagas were condemned as barbarous for their head hunting ways (Yunuo, 1974: 125; cited in Eaton, 1997: 256).
In 1918, after returning from France, twenty Nagas including few government officials and leading Naga chiefs formed an organisation known as the “Naga Club” at Kohima for promoting the interests of the Nagas. The Club was informally supported by local British administrators mainly Mr. Charles Pawsay, the then Deputy Commissioner. When Indian Independence was imminent, this same Naga Club transformed itself into Naga National Council (NNC) in 1946, at the behest of Mr. Charles Pawsay. Pawsay was rewarded and became Sir Charles Pawsay. Thus, a mere club became a National Council or Parliament. The first stirrings of Naga nationalism were prompted or at least encouraged by certain British Colonial Officers, who felt that the “distinctiveness of Naga culture” would be at risk in an united India. It will be recalled that the crystallization of the “tribes, Nagas” were itself aided, if not created, by British administrators and anthropologists.
8. The demographic realities does not support at all the Naga Cease Fire Extension and demand for Greater Nagaland or Nagalim .
• Senapati district is a pro-ceasefire and pro-NSCN area where apart from Nagas, there are Thadous (23060), Vaipheis(3057), Paites(202), Mizo(298), Kom(2602), Koireng(762), Koirao(918), Kabui(3702), Hmar(138), Gangte (347), Chiru (2064)and Aimol (86), who have openly protested against the extension of ceasefire to Manipur and vehemently opposed the idea of Greater Nagaland. Thus about 56% of the district population do not support the claim for Greater Nagaland.
• In Tamenglong district also, the population group of Thadous and other categories vehemently opposed the extension of ceasefire to Manipur and the idea of Greater Nagaland.
• Ukhrul district is the birthplace of Th. Muivah, General Secretary of NSCN(IM). He has recruited a large number of Tangkhul youths to the NSCN cadres . But not all Tangkhuls are followers of Th. Muivah. Shri Rishang Keising and Youngmasho Shaiza were two prominent and popular Tangkhul leaders who, in spite of small size of Tangkhul population ruled Manipur as Chief Ministers of Manipur for more than 12 years and in whose time many resolutions opposing the demands of Greater Nagaland were passed unanimously by the State Legislative Assembly. Shri Rishang Keising is presently the Rajya Sabha M.P. nominated by the State Government of Manipur as Congress nominee. This shows the lack of unanimity of the demand for Greater Nagaland even among the Tangkhul Nagas.
10. The NSCN-IM is led by Isak Chisi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah. The outfit aims to establish a “Greater Nagaland” (‘Nagalim’ or the People’s Republic of Nagaland) based on Mao Tse Tung’s ideology. The outfit has also established a government-in-exile called the Government of the People’s Republic of Nagaland (GPRN). It has an estimated 4,500 strong cadre base. It is supported by a section of Aos, Semas, Zeilangs, Anals, Maos and Manipur-based Tangkhul Nagas. The NSCN (IM) has been passing its annual budget to the tune of Rs 200 million to Rs 250 million each year. It is alleged that drug trafficking from Myanmar is reported to be a major source of income for the NSCN-IM, and it also reportedly engages in extortion, bank robberies and other criminal pursuits to obtain finance. NSCN-IM uses money earned through narcotics trade to buy arms and also pay for training of their cadres. http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/states/nagaland/terrorist_outfits/Nscn_im.htm )
11. The NSCN (IM)’s territorial claims to Kuki inhabited areas in Manipur and Assam is pregnant with the seeds of a bloody ethnic conflict. Kukis, who co-inhabit the hill districts of Senapati, Chandel, Tamenglong and Ukhrul in Manipur with the various Naga tribes, are averse to the concept of a Greater Nagaland or Nagalim or Southern Nagaland.
12. The ethnic cleansing perpetrated by the NSCN (IM) on the Kuki inhabitants of these districts between the summer of 1992 and winter of 1995 was perhaps intended to evict the Kukis from the so called Naga Territory or force them to identify themselves as Naga but the land belong to the Kukis for many centuries. Thus the NSCN has earned the image of “perpetrators of genocide”
13. The Kukis vehemently objected to the idea of integrating Naga areas of Manipur, which ultimately led to “Quit Notice “ and “Ethnic Cleaning “perpetrated by the NSCN leading a serious communal clash between the Nagas and Kukis in 1992-1994 where more than 900 innocent people were killed . In the Zoupi ( Tamenglong) in the massacre of 13 September, 1993, about 90 Kuki men were hacked to death with machetes. On 13 September, 1993, 13 infants were butchered to death in front of their mothers. On 7 June, 1993 at Khatong, Sadar Hills, 8 women were raped and then killed along with three men and three children .On 8 October, 1992, at Moultuh in Chandel district , three women were killed after being raped . Two men and one two month old child was also killed. On 19 November, 1994 at Thingsan in Chandel district, NSCN-IM cadres dressed in Indian Security Forces uniforms killed 25 Kuki men (P.S. Haokip, Zale’n-Gam, the Kuki Nation , Kuki National Organisation , 1998 – page- 530)
16. It is alleged that the NSCN (IM) openly indulged in terrorist activities like kidnapping, extortion, illegal drug trafficking, imposing compulsory tax to commercial vehicles running in the national highways. According to the World Geopolitics of Drugs 1995-1996 Report, the two branches of NSCN collect a “tax” of 20% of the value of drugs passing through the area under their control in Nagaland (The World Geopolitics of Drugs 1998-1999-Annual Report). This has become an open secret .
17. The NSCN imposed a tax on every commercial vehicle, charging Rs. 3000-5,000 per trip. Receipts for such collections are openly issued in the name of the Government of the People’s Republic of Nagaland. In 1996, the first public protest against the NSCN(IM)’s extortion on the national highway—the sole supply line running through the Naga hill areas into the Manipur valley—was led by the Manipur Truck Drivers Association. The Meitei public supported this strike even though it led to a severe shortage of essential commodities and inflation. Despite such protests, the practice continues, and the current rate is reported to be Rs. 10,000. During such lengthy blockade of the National Highway sponsored by the NSCN(IM), there was a great scarcity of food in the valley and food have to be transported by air by the Government of India from neighbouring states. This weakened the claims of the NSCN(IM).
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