Historical fact of the Naga Political Issue

From Previous issue
A lot of controversy arose over the 9th clause with Nagas claiming that their right to secede after 10 years and form their own government was guaranteed while the Indian government insisted that no such provision was granted under the clause. Some of the NNC members would pursue this agreement for a long time until the Indian government finally discarded it in 1951.
Markot Ramuny in his book, The World Nagas wrote:
 At this stage (1951) the Government of India decided that nothing would be done in future which might in any way be regarded as official recognition of the nine-point agreement in question. This was four years after the Governor has signed the agreement. The Nagas had been let down and the credibility of the Government went down almost beyond redemption for many years.
Abandoned by the British Government on the one hand and having failed to elicit any response from the Indian Government for their political rights, the Nagas next turned to Gandhi, the father of the Indian nation with their plea.

4. NAGAS MEET MAHATMA GANDHI
A delegation of 9 NNC members including A. Z. Phizo and T. Sakhrie met Gandhi’s secretary and insisted and they stated the reason why they wanted to meet Gandhi, T. Sakhrie, the General Secretary of the NNC quickly scribbled the following points as the reasons why they wanted to meet Gandhi.
1.    The Nagas are from a country in the Northeast frontier of India, which lies between two huge countries namely, India and China.
2.    The Nagas were independent before the British advent.
3.    They were first attacked in 1849. They bravely fought the British for 30 years for their independence. The last battle was fought in 1879 and the Nagas were conquered.
4.    The Nagas (British Subjects) demanded for independence in 1929 when the Simon Commission visited Kohima, headquarters of the Naga Hills.
5.    The Naga Hills has been totally “excluded area” since the 1935 Act came into force.
6.    Again in 1946 the Nagas demanded for complete independence when the British decided to withdraw from India. An interim arrangement on the lines of district autonomy has been offered to the Nagas by the authorities and the Nagas have rejected it.
7.    The Nagas fought for independence when the British threatened to take away their independence back in the 19th century.
8.    Again the Nagas resisted Japanese Invasion with all their might in 1944, for their independence. There are some historically important dates here. The first battle with the British was in 1832 and even as late as 1935 some Nagas were still fighting the British.
9.    This demand of the Nagas for independence is not the opinion of a dean or rule. (The Nagas have no ruler and the British are going). It is the will of the people.
10.    The Nagas will declare independence on 14th August 1947 and sent cable to UNO.

Points of discussion:
1.    The Nagas are determined to have complete independence. They will not join the Indian Union. They will die before losing their independence.
2.    Will the Government of India use force to bring the Nagas under the Indian Union? Does anyone under the sun have the right to take away their independence? Is might still right?
Mahatma Gandhi gave the NNC delegation a lengthy interview. The discussion ranged from the Naga rights to brotherhood of mankind and even conquered economic self-reliance etc. However, the most important point of discussion was Gandhiji’s assurance that the Nagas have every right to be independent if they did not want to join the Indian Union.
When the Naga delegates pointed out that Assam Governor, Sir Akbar Hydari was threatening to use force against the Nagas in case they refused to join the Indian Union, Gandhi exclaimed: “Sir Akbar is wrong. He cannot do that…I will come to the Naga Hills; I will ask them to shoot me first before one Naga is shot at”. (Had Gandhi not been assassinated shortly after, Nagas are convinced he would have done just that).
Gandhi went so far as to say, “Why wait until 14th August? Why not even declare your independence tomorrow?”
The Naga delegation came back assured by Gandhi’s assurance and declared their independence on 14th August 1947, one day prior to India’s own declaration of her independence. The sequence of events shows that the Nagas had done everything possible and required of them declaring their independence.
The message of this declaration was sent to the King of England, the Government of India, and the Secretary General of the United Nations Organization. The telegraphic message to the United Nations read:
To,
Secretary General
United Nations
Benign Excellency,
Kindly put on record that Nagas will be independent. Discussions with India are being carried on to that effect. Nagas do not accept Indian Constitution.
The right of the people must prevail regardless of size.
Nine members of the NNC signed this message and an acknowledgement was received from the U.N. from Lake Success. The next day, on 15th August 1947 when India’s flag was hoisted by the then Deputy Commissioner Mr. Pawsey at Kohima, there was not a single Naga present on the occasion. Other attempts by the Indian officer to hoist the India flag in Naga territory was resisted by the Nagas. Nagas pulled down all these flags. This was done on the ground that Indians would not be allowed to hoist their National flag on Naga territory.
Following this great event, the situation in Nagaland calmed down as the attention of the newly formed Indian Government and the departing British Government was fully occupied by the carnage the partition nightmare.
Having stated their case to the British, India and the world and having declared their independence on 14th August 1947, the NNC was now busy trying to set up their own Government in Nagaland.
While ardently for sovereignty and independence, knowing their limitation they had asked for an interim government both from the British as well as the Indian Government through which they could train themselves for self-governance. Now that both had turned down their pleas for assistance and co-operation, they were planning to stand on their own feet and run their own government. As a first step in defiance of the Indian administration in Kohima, they set up their own court at the Naga Club, Kohima and started functioning. Earlier, in September 1947, a committee had been set up by the NNC to draft the constitution which was adopted at Wokha on the 25th October 1947. Heads of Provincial Government were also appointed in this meeting.
The NNC had also set up two central Councils, one in Kohima and the other at Mokokchung, A. Z. Phizo though still not yet- the President of NNC had been its spokesman in most of these events that had led to the declaration of Naga Independence on 14th August. He had already  travelled widely into Assam, (Lushai Hills now  Mizoram), and Manipur etc. in an attempt to persuade these people not to join the Indian Union but instead form independent countries of their own. His efforts failed and all other princely as well as tribal people of the North-East Indian regions which had not been a part of India in history all joined the Indian Union volitionally.
His efforts in all these ventures had however depleted all his financial resources and his family was almost starving. He therefore decided to travel to Calcutta, both to see off his nephew, Viichazelhu Iralu, who was headed for America for further studies, as well as to conduct some business to provide for his family.
While on his trip, on July 19, 1948, Phizo was arrested at Calcutta and detained for five months under the Bengal Security Act. Though his family had to suffer due to his imprisonment this was perhaps a God given opportunity for him to sit down and reflect on the future course of the Naga political destiny. While being detained in the Presidency Jail in Calcutta he wrote his famous, “A letter from jail”. The letter was addressed to C. Rajagopalachari, the first Governor General of India. In this letter, he presented the Naga case with great clarity. His qualities as a statement and politician are vividly reflected in this letter. He so convinced Rajagopalachari with the case of the Nagas that the first Governor General of India openly declared that Nagas had every right to be Independent.
To be continued tomorrow