The Naga Club of 1918
A group of Naga leaders formed the Naga Club in 1918 at Kohima. The Naga Club submitted a memorandum to the Simon Commission in 1929 demanding that the Nagas should not be included within the reformed scheme of administration for British India and, as in ancient times, the Nagas should be left alone to determine their own future.
The Naga National Council (NNC) and The 9-Point Agreement
The Naga National Council (NNC) formed in 1946 led the Naga struggle for self-determination. The efforts made by some NNC leaders led to the 9-Point Agreement of June 29, 1947, between those NNC leaders and the Assam Governor Sir Akbar Hydari in order to resolve the Naga political issue. However, the core NNC leaders refused to honour the Hydari agreement since they were not part of the negotiation and the terms of the agreement were not acceptable.
Since the British departure from India was imminent and the fate of the Nagas undecided, the Naga leaders led by A. Z. Phizo turned to the Indian leaders including Mahatma Gandhi to recognize the Naga independence but without success. As the British were leaving India without resolving the Naga political issue, the Nagas formally declared themselves to be an independent nation on the 14thAugust 1947 and hoisted the Naga national flag.
The new independent India rejected the Naga claim of sovereignty and independence. Under the leadership of A.Z. Phizo, the NNC continued the struggle for self-determination and held the plebiscite on the 16thMay, 1951 wherein 99.9 % of the Nagas reaffirmed to be a sovereign nation. India again rejected the Naga plebiscite and used force to suppress the peaceful struggle of the Nagas for their freedom. The repressive Indian military actions to subjugate the Nagas led to the unending Indo-Naga armed conflict. In the Indo-Naga war unknown to the world, thousands of Nagas were killed, innocent Nagas were arrested and herded in concentration camps like animals without food, water and sanitation, their villages, houses, granaries and properties were burned down, innocent Naga women weremolested, raped and killed, and inhuman army atrocities were inflicted on them. The Indian security forces continue to commit extreme brutalities and inhuman cruelties on the Nagas.
The 16-Point Agreement
In July 1960, A. Z. Phizo was pleading with the people of Britain, India and the whole world to help resolve the differences between India and the Nagas, but during same time, the Naga People’s Convention was too busy collaborating and signing the 16-Point Agreement of 26 July, 1960 with the Government of India. The Naga national workers and the NNC rejected and condemned the 16-Point Agreement as a sellout. The 16-Point Agreement failed to solve the Naga political issue miserably. The Naga movement for sovereignty continues and the war of independence wages on till date.
This 16-Point Agreement led to the creation of a full-fledged state of Nagaland in December, 1963 with badly worded provision with respect to the resources under Article 371A of the Indian Constitution. Admittedly, only the people of the present state of Nagaland are enjoying the fruit of this Agreement. The cease-fire and the peace talk of September 1964 to October 1967 also failed because the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi refused to entertain the Naga demand for sovereignty but instead, she offered to the Nagas everything within the Union of India. But the Nagas refused to be a part of the Union of India.
The Shillong Accord of 1975 and the NSCN of 1980
The Government of India (GOI) signed an accord with a few leaders of the NNC in 1975. Though rejected and abandoned, this accord led to the formation of National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) on the 31st January of 1980 led by ThuingalengMuivah, S. S. Khaplang and Isak ChishiSwu. But due to differences, the NSCN was split into two in 1988 – NSCN (I-M) and NSCN (K). In August 1997, the NSCN (I-M) signed a ceasefire agreement with Government of India and negotiations started between Government of India and the NSCN (I-M) to find an inclusive and honourable solution acceptable to both the Naga people and the people of India.
The Framework Agreement: A Dynamic Document
In August 2015, the NSCN signed the Framework Agreement (FA) with GOI in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to arrive at the final agreement. It is stated in the FA that “the Government of India and the NSCN, respecting the people’s wishes for sharing the sovereign power as defined in the competencies, reached an agreement on the 3rdAugust, 2015 as an honourable solution”. The FA further stated that since the dialogue between the GOI and NSCN had successfully concluded, the FA “will provide for an enduring inclusive new relationship of peaceful co-existence of the two entities”.
After signing the FA, the NSCN has explained the key terms contained in the FA and the decisions taken thereafter in its published booklets and official press statements. Some of them are briefly summarized as under:
The Amsterdam Joint Communique dated 07/11/2002 between the GOI and NSCN states that “The government of India recognizes the unique history and position of the Nagas” which is reaffirmed by the GOI in the FA. (2) Unique history means that “the Nagas have the history of independence. The Nagas have neither been a part of the Union of India nor that of Burma (Myanmar), nor any powers by consent or by conquest”. (3) Unique position means that “position and situation of Nagalim is political. It is a case of invasion on Nagalim by India”. (4) The FA acknowledges the fact that “the sovereignty of Nagalim lies with the Naga people”. (5) By signing the FA, the Government of India admits the historical fact that the sovereign Naga people have not accepted the Indian constitution. (6) Shared-sovereignty means that the “sovereign Indian people and the sovereign Naga people will share sovereign power in some areas as defined in the competencies”.(7) An enduring inclusive new relationship of peaceful co-existence of the two entities means that (a) it embraces all Nagas wherever they are including all political groups, (b) a new relationship based on the Framework Agreement, and (c) co-existence of two peoples – the Indian people and the Naga people. (8) On the questions of the Naga National flag and the constitution, the NSCN has reaffirmed that the Naga national flag and the constitution are constituent parts of sovereignty and are integral to the Naga sovereignty. Therefore, the NSCN has declared and reaffirmed that it shall defend and protect the Naga unique history, the Naga territory, the Naga sovereignty, the Naga national flag and the constitution to the last, come what may.
The FA concluded with the statement that “The two sides agreed that within the framework agreement details and execution plan will be worked out and implemented shortly”. Thereafter, the NSCN and the GOI had met several times and many crucial details or competencies had been worked out and finalized. Some important competencies have not been finalized including the Naga national flag and the separate constitution. The competencies may be broadly divided into 6 parts: (1) political, (2) military, (3) economic, (4) taxation, (5) civil administration and (6) social and culture.
Sometime in 2016, the author was asked toassist the Peace Negotiating Teams concerning the economic issues, taxation and civil administration. Since the author was in service, he had to work behind the scenes. When the GOI came out with the first list of accepted competencies, the author’s first task was to see whether the core competencies pertaining economic issues, taxation and civil administration submitted by the NSCN are included in the accepted competencies. And also, to identify and justify the core competencies which aresubmittedbut not yet accepted so that the same are taken up in the next meeting. In some crucial cases, the languages used or the conclusions arrived at by the GOI were found to be unacceptable. Such competencies were renegotiated and were accepted.
In the author’s considered understanding of the issues in hand, it is found that there were some important economic issues that were left out from the detailssubmitted in the beginning itself. Naturally, the GOI will never volunteer to include such matters in the negotiation. In our protracted struggle for freedom, we have seen thousands of our people killed, properties destroyed, women raped, hopes of our people dashed, opportunities lost, peace shattered and future of young people ruined. The loss is colossal. Therefore, a new exclusive economic package over and above the normal / separate budgetary arrangement is required. This new economic development fund was included in our list of competencies and submitted to the GOI to make up the colossal loss suffered by our people. The GOI accepted this new package after a hard bargaining by our negotiating team. The required provisions to fully protect the resources particularly the minerals in all the Naga areas are also negotiated and accepted. Though the negotiation is conducted in secret, and no one is authorized todisclose the details, almost all the important competencies are in the public domain. Let no one complain that the competencies are wrapped in complete secrecy.
The Framework Agreement is not a static document, but dynamic one. If any Naga or group has a very important issue that should be included in the list of competencies or some competencies are required to be re-worked or fine-tuned, it can be done any time before signing the final agreement. The door is open. When the two nations negotiate, each one tries to get the best deal. We must come together to get the best deal for the Nagas. We are dealing with the most shrewd and well-trained hardcore professionals – the world’s toughest negotiator.
THE NNPG AND THE AGREED POSITION
The GOI soon realized that the NSCN is a tough negotiator and is unwaveringly steadfast regarding its stated position in respect tothe Naga national flag and the separate constitution. However, now the Nagas have become so divided, fragmented and weak that the GOI decides to exploit this weakness to the hilt and dictate terms to the Nagas. So the first step is to discredit the NSCN. The GOI began to describe the NSCN as secessionist underground group, terrorist, extortionist, etc. It did not work. The NSCN stood its ground. Thus, the GOI was forced to look back to the pages of Naga history for an answer. It finds that a new Naga people’s Convention of 1960 is needed to destroy is own child: the Framework Agreement. Accordingly, the GOI and some Nagas quietly set up the Naga National Political Groups (NNPG) in December, 2016 consisting of 6 Naga political groups and an agreement called the Agreed Position (AP) was signed between the GOI and the NNPG on 17 November, 2017.
Unfortunately, this AP further complicated and derailed the Naga peace process because there cannot be two or more agreements with different armed groups to solve the Naga political issue. Taking advantage of the officially undeclared details of negotiation between the GOI and the NSCN, some competencies which were finalized between the GOI and the NSCN were hijacked, copied and included in the Agreed Position. The GOI and the NSCN had started the negotiation from 1997 and had finalized most of the competencies much before the signing of the Agreed Position in 2017. Except for the few Nagaland state centric provisions, all other details contained in the Agreed Position were already finalized between the GOI and NSCN. If the GOI was sincere, it could have simply obtained all the details including the Nagaland state centric details from the NNPG and included in the final agreement to be arrived atbetween the GOI and the NSCN. But the GOI’s plan was to use the NNPG to wreck the FA. In October2019, the GOI finally issued the ultimatum to the NSCN to sign the agreement on the terms and conditions dictated by it. Unlike the NNPG, the NSCN refused to submit to the GOI.
Enemies Within: Collaborators
A collaborator is a person who works with the enemy in a traitorous and disloyal manner against his own nation. Some senior Naga leaders have argued that certain competencies such as the Naga national flag and the separate constitution for the Nagas are not found in the FA and therefore, we cannot demand for the Naga national flag and the separate constitution. These arguments lack merit and substance. Sadly, these meritless arguments are used just to discredit the FA and sabotage the peace talk. As mentioned above, the FA is dynamic and the list of competencies isvery long that includes the Naga flag and the constitution. They are also saying that the GOI will never allow the Nagas to have the Naga national flag and the separate constitution. They strongly argue that only when the Nagas become fully independent, we can have the flag and the constitution being the attributes of sovereignty. They are wrong again.
(To be concluded)
K. Timothy Zimik, IRS,
Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax (Retired)
Disclaimer: The statements made and views expressed in this Article are the author’s personal views.
Thursday, March 12, 2026