Come home to Nagaland

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Come home to Nagaland

 

ANIL PANICKER

 

A common complaint among people who inhabit the north eastern parts

of India is that their concerns, trials and tribulations, hopes and

desires, and glory and despair count for little in the hurly burly of

a Indian state revolving around the heat and grime of Delhi.

 

It is almost as if we don't exist at all for them, " was a very

common refrain that one heard from the people there.

 

But if developments during the past one week are any indication, then

it has amply proven that the `seven sisters' of Manipur, Meghalaya

Assam, Arunachal, Mizoram, Tripura and Nagaland do come in Delhi's

radar screens.

 

For the first time in more than three decades, a definite possibility

has arisen for peace to make a triumphant return back to Nagaland.

 

The last time when a ray of hope for this arose was in 1967 when the

then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi initiated the process with the Naga

leaders, which very soon ended in a failure, paving the way for

political and social instability, which have been the bane of the

Nagas.

 

The reasons for the talks to end in a whimper back then were best

summed up by Isak Chisi Swu and Isak-Muivah, chairman and general

secretary of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN-IM).

Upon their arrival from Amsterdam last week for the peace talks, the

two leaders, in a display of rare honesty and humility said, "We were

immature then and failed to see beyond our respective demands."

 

And what exactly were these specific demands? In 1967, these two

powerful leaders, who represent the most powerful voice of the Naga

insurgents, wanted nothing less than a sovereign state of Nagaland.

In short secession from India.

 

India was willing to talk to them over giving them increased

autonomy, a just fiscal share and other economic and legal boosts,

but firmly put its foot down on any demand of an independent identity

outside of the Indian Union for the Nagas.

 

With both sides unwilling to budge an inch from their respective

positions, the talks ended up a colossal failure, finally leading to

a renewed wave of insurgency in the embattled northeastern region.

 

So how have things changed between 1967 and 2003? For one, there is

no Indira Gandhi at the helm of affairs any more. Instead, in her

place, there is a coalition government, headed by a leader who is

known for his conciliatory approach towards solving seemingly

intractable problems.

 

We should not forget that it was not very many years ago, that this

same leader, during a visit to Pakistan memorial, had noted in the

visitor's diary, " India's prosperity is inextricably linked to the

prosperity of Pakistan. Therefore it is India's interests to see that

Pakistan prospers and vice –versa."

 

It is the same man, who has extended an olive branch to the fighting

Nagas. And so it was but in the fitness of things that the first

major thing that the Naga leaders did, on landing in the nation's

capital was to pay their respects at Rajghat, the resting place of

the "Father of the Nation".

 

The prodigals, who stayed away from Indian shores for 36 long years,

had truly come home.

 

But things are still in the nascent stages and one should rush up to

wave the peace flag. As the resolution of past and present conflicts

across the innumerable strife-torn corners of the globe have shown,

agreeing to come to the negotiating table is one and sealing a peace

pact is another.

 

An indication of how fluid the situation is came barely hours before

NSCN leaders landed on Indian shores.

 

They were greeted by what was undoubtedly one of the biggest attacks

in recent years, when Manipur Peoples Liberation Front, (MPLF) rebels

fought a pitched three-day battle with Indian security forces in

Manipur, bordering Nagaland.

 

The second hiccup arose on the second day, when arch rival Khaplang

of the NSCN-K faction, another major stakeholder in Nagaland, shot

off an angry missive to LK Advani, Indian deputy prime minister and

home minister, accusing Sui and Muivah of hijacking the peace

process. " They are not the sole custodians of the aspirations and

wishes of the Nagas and any solution arrived through them will hold

little water in Nagaland".

 

The rhetoric was not unsurprising, when one considers the bitter

rivalry raging on between the two factions of NSCN, an organisation

that was originally founded jointly by Sui, Muivah and Khaplang.

 

Apart from Khaplang, there are at least over a dozen other active

rebel groups whose views will need to be accommodated for any genuine

peace to take birth.

 

And there is the problem of land, or more precisely of how much of

land can rightfully be called Nagaland. That this is the most emotive

and potent issue can be gauged from Muivah's statement to the press,

the other day, when he grandly declared: We don't want Greater

Nagaland or Lesser Nagaland. All we want is Nagaland.

 

These views are totally untenable to the states whose borders run

contiguous with Nagaland. While the insurgents are demanding a

redrawing of the borders of all these states, so as to include all

those regions where Nagas are in a majority.

 

Thus an effort in 2001 by the Indian government to extend the NSCN-IM

cease-fire to areas outside Nagaland, saw Manipur up in flames,

leading to the death of 18 people in police firing.

 

For India, the success of the present talks is linked to everlasting

peace in the North-East, as most of the innumerable militant groups

active all over the seven states, owe their birth, rise and power to

this insurgency, which has been termed as the "mother of all

insurgencies".

 

 

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