On December 14, 1960, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 1514 embracing the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. This was based on respect for the principles of equal rights, fundamental freedom and the self-determination of all peoples.
This historic resolution was designed to uphold the dignity and worth of the human person, the equal rights of men and women and of nations, large and small. The holders of the right of 1514 were peoples that were colonized by colonial forces, and seeking to become independent entities. It legitimized their right to be self-determining without being labeled as “secessionist.”
A few months prior to this landmark resolution, on July 26, the 16 Point Agreement was signed between the Government of India and the Naga People’s Convention. Based on this Agreement, ‘Nagaland State’ was created within the Indian Union on December 1, 1963. This ‘Nagaland State’ was comprised of the Naga Hills-Tuensang Area under the Naga Hills-Tuensang Area Act, 1957.
Under the Naga Hills-Tuensang Area Act, 1957, the Naga Hills District and Tuensang Frontier Division of the North East Frontier Agency (NEFA) were formed into an administrative unit in the State of Assam under the name Naga Hills-Tuensang Areas. As a result, ‘Nagaland State’ was confined to this specific administrative unit, thereby, leaving a majority of the Naga people and their traditional land out of its ambit.
Prior to the 16 Point Agreement, all Nagas were one without geographical distinction, and there was no clear political divide between the national worker and a lay Naga. However, after this agreement, Nagas were divided into Eastern Nagas, Southern Nagas, Central Nagas, Western Nagas and Northern Nagas. Furthermore, a division between the “overground” and “underground” sharply appeared.
An underlying consequence of the Agreement was to reduce the Naga status as peoples to a “scheduled tribe” under the “Sixth Schedule” of the Indian Constitution. In doing so, it legally limited the Naga people’s natural right to define their own history, identity, territory and aspirations.
As a result, the nationalists rejected the 16 Point Agreement, while the unionists embraced it. The unionists have been politically assimilated, in thought and behavior, into the Indian system. The nationalists, on the other hand, continue to assert and maintain the Naga stand of the 1951 Voluntary Plebiscite.
The 16 Point Agreement of 1960 was a flashpoint in modern Naga political history. Empirical history informs us that the institutionalization of tribalism started with the 16 Point Agreement and the politicization with the state formation. Along with the creation of Nagaland State came a new memory and a regional state consciousness, which, in turn, impacted the Naga national consciousness.
The 16 Point Agreement was a significant political boost for the Indian government. For India, it gave the opportunity to declare to the world that the Naga political conflict was resolved by granting autonomy to the Nagas in the form of Nagaland State. Even though the 16 Point Agreement was rejected by the nationalist, these developments undermined the 1960 UN Resolution 1514 for the Nagas. These broader political implications and perceptions were not, and still are not, fully comprehended by the Nagas.
Today, 16 Point Agreement of the 20th century is once again becoming a flashpoint in the 21st century. The Naga people have a collective responsibility to decide who they want to be. The fact remains that for Nagas to exercise political decolonization, cultural reconstruction and authentic freedom, a Naga decolonizing framework is needed. Perhaps by retracing their common political journey, developing a decolonizing framework and reconciling among themselves, the Nagas can find a united way to address the burdens of the 16 Point Agreement.
