An observation on Indo-Naga peace talk

As an activist involved in facilitating reconciliation among the Nagas and Indo-Naga peace process,I feel it is imperative to share a concerned observation on Indo-Naga peace talk. The overwhelming Naga national movement which started in the early 19th century and nearing about a century defying solution is not because of the offer was insufficient,but the talk has been dragging on in line with the policy of the government of India to polarize the opinion of the people. However, the collective vision for self determination has been up-held by every successive leaders of the past and passed down to generation proving Nagas are not Indian by virtue of its unique history.
“Historical events: In 1947 when the Naga delegations met Mahatma Gandhi father of the nation in Delhi to persist the stand that Nagas were never Indian and Naga territory had never been a part of India in which Mahatma Gandhi reportedly told the Naga delegations: I believe in the brotherhood of man,I do not believe in force and forced unions. If you say that you are not Indian and your country does not belong to India then the matter ends there, nobody will force you to join the Indian union “We don’t want to live under British and they are leaving us” so if you don’t want to live with India you have the right to be independent. The Nagas being honest people declared Naga independence on 14th August 1947 one day ahead of the Indian independence and informed the United Nation and India. However,when Jawaharlal Nehru become Prime Minister and arrived at Kohima with Burmese Prime Minister U-NU people were waiting to put forward a representation which was to demand for the implementation of the 9th point agreement conceding the Nagas right to secede after 10 years,but the Nagas were told not to submit representation prompted the people to turned away from receiving the two Prime Ministers. Later on Prime Minister Nehru reportedly said: Whether heaven falls or India goes into pieces and blood runs red in the country,whether I am here or any other body comes in,Nagas will not be allowed independent. To show off his power, Nehru divided the Naga Territory without the knowledge of the Naga some of which became part of Burma. Further-more,within India,the divided Naga areas were spread across several states such as Arunachal,Assam, Manipur and Nagaland in line with the policy of divide and rule.
In recent time,Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the signing of the Framework Agreement on 3rd August 2015 gave his remarks:- I have deepest admiration for the great Naga people for their extraordinary support to the peace process. I compliment the NSCN for maintaining the ceasefire agreement for nearly two decades with a sense of honour that defines the great Naga people. I have travelled to Nagaland on many occasion and deeply impressed by the rich diverse culture and unique way of life of the Naga people. It makes not only our nation,but also the world a more beautiful place. Unfortunately, Naga problem has taken so long to resolve because we did not understand each other. It is a legacy of British. The colonial rulers had by design kept the Nagas isolated and insulated. They propagated terrible myths about the Nagas in the rest of the country. They deliberately suppressed the reality that the Nagas were an extremely evolved society. They spread negative ideas about the rest of India amongst the Naga people. This was part of the well known policy of divide and rule of the colonial rulers. As a result, connectivity between Nagaland and the rest of India remained weak across this divide.
The remarks of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi,truly praised the diverse culture and way of life of the Nagas as peace loving people,but not a single line did he utter for an early political solution. Conspicuous in his speech was the absence of Indian government’s role in the present Indo-Naga imbroglio,and imputing the current situation solely to the British colonial history.as such it appears that the talk will go on as “talk of the talk” rather than to bring concrete resolution to the issue. Infact, since Dr. Manmohan Singh’s time government of India has been assuring to resolve the Naga issue. But instead of concluding the talk,the issue was twisted whereby it was even said at times that the talks had been concluded,to further polarize the people rather than to bring solution. According to close observation, ceasefire with the Naga political groups is not that government of India genuinely loved peace,but considered the ceasefire as having resolved the issue. This speaks volumes that peace talk is not here for a logical conclusion but to drag on like an “Owl waiting of oak tree fruit which never get ripe.
Meanwhile, the Government of India is trying to divide the Naga populations in line with the tribes and regions,the Naga political groups knowingly or un- knowingly succumbing to the policy of divide and rule is a great setback for the conclusion of peace talk. Unity is universally aspired and it is imperative to resolve any kinds of issues or problems,but it must not be conditioned as in the case of Naga issue,because of the fact that Nagas are one people and there are no different goals for Naga political solutions peace talk was to resolve the issue, but Government of India policy is to twist the issue by pitting Naga political group against each other to drag on the talk as ‘Blame Game. The Naga Civil Societies have been working hard to prove Government of India’s claim on Nagas disunity by trying every efforts to unite the Naga political groups,but it has no sanctions to formulate a common purpose in which all the Naga political groups must agree to disagree for a solution to common issue. It is a fact that disunity is because of the differences in ideology,but to bail out the differences is beyond the control of the Civil Societies apart from appeal to the political groups. It appears that government of India has put to rest the Naga peace talk blaming disunity of the Naga political groups as stumbling block to political solution. However,the voice of the people is loud and clear that the Naga political groups must realize the futility of factionalism and instead draw the support of the people to achieve political solution.It must be a lesson for all the national workers to recall the pioneering national workers who never bothered about their own welfare or well being and sacrificed their everything gaining the unflinching support of the people.
H.K. Zhimomi