NAGA PEACE TALKS
CONTEXT
- Recently, the Nagaland Government appealed to all Naga political groups and extremist groups to cooperate in establishing unity, reconciliation and peace in the region.
MORE ABOUT NAGA INSURGENCY
BACKGROUND OF NAGA INSURGENCY
- Nagaland continues to witness one of the longest and bloodiest standing insurgencies—one that has existed longer than the Kashmir insurgency.
- Seventeen Naga tribes and twenty more sub-tribes united under the Naga National Council (NNC) in August 1947 to protest and demand an independent Nagaland.
- In 1952, Phizo formed the underground Naga Federal Government (NFG) and the Naga Federal Army (NFA).
- The Government of India sent in the Army to crush the insurgency and, in 1958, enacted the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act.
- Still deeply affected by the violent partition of its northern reaches, Indian leaders were against any further partitioning of the country, which compounded the plight of the Naga independence struggle.
- Nagaland finally became the sixteenth state of the Indian Union in 1963, before which it was a district of Assam.
- Even within the Naga leadership, there was a difference in ideology among leaders emerged.
- By the mid-twentieth century, several rebel groups operated in Nagaland, including the Naga National Council (NNC), National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah), National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang), Naga Federal Government (NFG), and Naga Federal Army (NFA) (No Need remember all groups).
- The ultimate endeavor of the insurgencies has been to create a “Greater Nagalim” that includes all contiguous land, including Nagaland, where the Naga tribes are settled.
PEACE EFFORTS OR ATTEMPTED PEACE EFFORTS
- Almost simultaneously with the resistance. On June 29, 1947, Assam Governor Sir Akbar Hyderi signed a 9-point agreement with moderate Naga leaders
- Sixteen-point Agreement with the Naga People’s Convention, 1960
- The Naga leaders expressed the view that other Nagas inhabiting contiguous areas should be enabled to join the new state. It was pointed out to them on behalf of the Government of India that Article 3 and 4 of the Constitution provided for increasing the area of any state, but it was not possible for the Government of India to make any commitment in this regard at this stage
- Ceasefire Agreement,1997 – The NSCN-IM signed a ceasefire agreement with the government to stop attacks on Indian armed forces. In return, the government would stop all counter-insurgency offensive operations.
WAY FORWARD
- Government should address the confusion due to many interpretations to “special arrangement” implied in the 2015 agreement, particularly on how the shared sovereignty will be exercised.
- The government should not rush into a solution by declaring deadlines. It should involve all stakeholders from within and outside the state of Nagaland, and work towards a solution through a peaceful dialogue process that satisfies all.
- Other sections’ sensitivities also will have to be kept in mind. For example, Kukis, a tribe engaged in tussle with the Nagas in the Manipur hills, have to be politically assuaged.
- For instance, recently, the Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs) and Kuki National Organisation (KNO) have signed a joint declaration to work together, as they used to separately negotiate political settlements with the Union of India.
- Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Manipur are wary of the NSCN-IM’s concept of Nagalim that could lead to a redrawing of their boundaries. The government and the NSCN (IM) must be completely transparent in their approach and must take into confidence all genuine political formations, civil society and ethnic groups.
- People-to-people contacts need to be built up so that real problems of the people can be voiced on a larger platform. There is a need for more cross-cultural openness, not only between mainstream India and the Northeast, but among the north-eastern states as well.