RC Chiten Jamir
The Genesis of Nagaland State
For nearly a century, the British India Government administered the Naga Hills as a part of Assam Province. Beginning from 1886, the Naga Hills remained as a cultural museum, under the British suzerainty till 1947. After India’s independence in 1947, it remained as a district in Assam till December 1957. The erstwhile Naga Hills of Assam and the erstwhile Tuensang Frontier Division of the North East Frontier Administration (N.E.F.A.) were brought together for the first time ever, as a separate administrative unit, known as the Naga Hills–Tuensang Area (N.H. T.A.) under the External Affairs Ministry of the Government of India, through a political agreement between the Naga People’s Convention and the Government of India in 1957. The N.H.T.A. was consisted of three administrative districts, namely, Kohima, Mokokchung and Tuensang. The N.H.T.A. administration started functioning from December 1, 1957 to February, 1961.
The Nagaland State Act was passed by the Indian Parliament in December 1962. But a transitional period of 3 years was envisaged as a fore-runner of the Statehood. An Interim Body was inaugurated on 18th February 1961 to function as the de facto Legislative Assembly. An Executive Council consisting of 5 Executive Councillors was sworn in as the de facto Council of Ministers. The transitional arrangement was envisaged as a fore-runner of the Statehood and to enable the Naga Underground Nationalist to negotiate with India for lasting peace and a satisfactory final political settlement of the Naga Political Problem.
The First Ever Naga Government
The separate formation of a State for the Nagas was through a Political Agreement between the Naga People’s Convention and the Government of India in July 1960. The famous 16-Point Political Agreement brought about a very specia1 and unique state. Special constitutional safeguards are provided in the Constitution under Article 371-A (I) to protect the Naga Identity and the Naga way of life. The Indian Parliament cannot make any law in respect of the religious and social practices of the Nagas, Naga customary law and procedures, administration of Civil and criminal justice involving decisions according to the Naga Customary Law, ownership and transfer of land and its resources. The Government of India shall provide the necessary finances for the economic development of Nagaland and the cost of administration of the State. Each Naga tribe shall have the units of law making and administrative loca1 self government in matters concerning the respective tribes and areas, namely:
1. The Village Council,
2. The Range/Area Council and the Tribal Council.
Each tribe shall have the Courts of Justice namely:
1. The Village Court,
2. The Range Court,
3. The Tribal Court.
These are the Naga tribal institutions of Local Self Government. The Nagas must make necessary laws to give effect to all these special provisions provided in the above mentioned Article and in the Minutes of the 16-Point Agreement. The first democratic Naga Government was ushered in January, 1964, through a general election. Thus, a beginning of a Peoples’ Government was started all from the scratch. The political power which was long sought for by the Nagas became a reality. All the Naga Tribes of Nagaland assembled to generate a political power in unity for a legitimate purpose to nurse and care for the State of Nagaland and to shape it according to their genius and aspirations all by themselves.
The source of the political power comes from the people. And this is political democracy. Whatever political power that may be generated by man, unless guided and controlled and judged as much by the power of God, it will become corrupt and destructive and counter productive. Human nature is selfish, and political power becomes self-centred. The political power is concentrated in the hands of a few leaders only. The real makers of the political leaders are ignored and oppressed, the destructive manifestations of corruptions, injustices, inequalities, parochialisms and exploitations are directed against the people. Political power can thus become either edifying or destructive, creative or corruptive, liberative or oppressive.
Political Power
Nagas who are generally Christians know that the ultimate power belongs to God. Jesus said, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” – Matthew 28:18. God’s power is to give a critique of distortion of political power. The abuse or misuse of political power is to be resisted by the people to whom the political power is accountable and subjected to the inevitable judgement of God. Politics without accountability and transparency is prone to corruptions, immoralities, wickedness and criminality. Political power and sovereignty lie with the people and hence the exercise of political power by the political and administrative agencies, are subjected to the imperative conditionality that their actions are accountable to the people. We are also aware that history is a proof that the political power generated by man becomes destructive and corrupt. The temporal power is accountable both to God and the People.
Nagaland State in Turmoil
Nagaland is a unique state constitutionally as also culturally and religiously. The Nagas decided to set aside Nagaland for Christ – a Missionary Land – Nagaland for Christ. Unfortunately, the Nagaland for Christ has become a mockery, curse and blasphemy. The state is ripped through with violence of hatred, enmity, bloodshed, killings, terrorism and diabolical designs. Daily we hear the news of tearing off of Nagas, merciless and atrocious killings of fellow Nagas.
Today’s violence is an outpouring of a burning passion upsurging to overthrow a suppressive political oppression and the endless exploitative economic injustice and social discrimination. Political power drives such forces back to the wall, and yet encourages clandestinely, such ways of life to become widespread and more stronger, for mutual conflict and destruction for political mileage. As long as hurts like exploitation, inequality, injustice, poverty exist, there can be no peace and security. In a world where there is socio-political and economic injustice, inequality, exploitation, discrimination and corruptions, there will always be social unrest and political instability. Political corruptions will go on creating and breeding violence, political opportunism and instability will give rise to social upheavals, turmoil and terrorism.
Rural Development
It is regrettable to say the least, that the development of the Naga villages has been rather lopsided. Nagaland joined the latter part of the Third Five Year Plan of India. In spite of the following Plans, even now, the basic minimum needs and expectations of the people in the villages are far from satisfactory. The grass-root Naga Democratic polity are the Naga villages, the peripheries of the villages, i.e. the Range areas, the tribal areas, especially the tribal institutions, are the grass-roots of socio-economic developments of the Naga society. Therefore, the Naga Democratic Polity does consist of the Naga Village Council, the Range (Area) Council and the Tribal Council. From time immemorial, the Nagas have these Institutions designed to serve the democratic Naga way of life. These are the uniqueness of the Naga Polity, the socio-political and economic social fabrics of the Nagas down through the centuries. These are the Naga Nation building democratic institutions. The N.N.C. based its political foundations on these social institutions. It reorganised the Tribal, the Sub-Tribal and the Village Councils on strong political sentiments and polity. The founding members of the Naga State also adopted the political sagacity of the N.N.C. and had these local self institutions incorporated in the constitution when the Naga State was founded.
Democratic Planning
It is a legitimacy of the democratic polity to plan everything and any thing for the people through a democratic planning. The grass-root people must participate through their local self government institutions to decide, plan priorities and execute all socioeconomic planned projects by themselves. This will ensure effective and efficient planning execution of rural economic developments. The people must take charge of their local affairs because only the wearer knows where the shoe pinches.
The uniqueness of the Naga way of life and the Naga Identity must be preserved and developed according to their genius, culture and aspirations. The local self government at the Tribal level, like the Tribal, Range and Village Councils and the Courts, must be made statutory bodies. The distinctive local self traditional institutions of the Nagas are a great source of political will of the people but they are not statutory bodies.
As envisaged in the Constitution, these local bodies should be made to function effectively in all matters of local development, administration. On the nation level also, the local self government is given top priority with a view to give political power to the people. The grass-root level can coordinate and harmonise the different village communities into an integrated solidarity.
Unfortunately in Nagaland, because of the fear of emerging local leadership at the grass-root level which were in existence before the state came into existence were misconstrued, misconceived a lot owing to localised political incompatibility. The abolition of the Area Councils (Range Councils) was a political plunder. The misconceptions regarding the role of the Area Councils, which were to work at the intermediary level between the village and the State as a peoples’ body should have been retained by laying down specific functions and powers of the Area Councils through legislation. Doing away with the Naga traditional institutions would only amount to a retrograde democracy. These Naga traditional democratic institutions should be made as the progressive units of socio-economic and political development agencies in the Naga society. In matters like ecological management, inter village roads, water supply, inter village disputes, checking on use of explosives in the rivers, hunting during closed seasons, these councils can play effective roles. It is imperative, therefore, that the traditional and ancient grass-root level democratic structures, which are in fact, the indigenous Naga way of life, should be remodelled or reorganised according to the exigencies of time and changing circumstances and requirements of both political and development imperatives. The Naga Scholars’ Society has also recommended the revival of the three-tier system of the Nagas have had from time immemorial i.e. the Village, the Range and the Tribal Councils. These are the Naga grass-root level socio-political, administrative institutions, irrespective of these being statutory or non-statutory. The introduction of Village Development Board is only of a recent origin. The Executive Council took up a Local Self Development with the then Prime Minister of India – Pandit Nehru. He was very sympathetic and agreed to sanction some under the Local Self Government Fund.
Whereas, a three-tier system of Local Self Government at the grass-root level is desirable, the question as to whether the two branches of the organisational structure at the grass-root level should be incorporated/amalgamated into a single unit and make it to shoulder dual function or otherwise, may be carefully examined by experts.
The Naga villages and their peripheries i.e. the Range/Tribal areas should be developed and transformed so that the literates will love to stay in them who will then become the real units of progress, development and prosperity. The grass-root tribal institutions should be made statutory in order to make the people the real participants in all matters of planning and development rather than just recipients. Political power lies with the people and therefore they should be given the responsibilities to look after their welfare and run their local affairs.
Although, because we are humans, doubts and misgivings assail on us, the burden of responsibilities to ameliorate the socio-political and economic conditions of our people may be too heavy on us, yet if we remain honest and sincere to the jobs assigned to us, resolutely following the path of democracy and trusting in the providence of God, then we shall surely have a better, happier Nagaland in our own days, blessed with peace and prosperity. God bless the Nagas!
