Kaka D. Iralu
Naga nationalism has its deep roots in Naga history. But the issue of taxes for running a modern nation state started only in the mid-1940s. It began by collection of Rs.1/- from every Naga citizen in the latter part of 1946. Those who could not afford to pay even this Rs.1/- in cash, paid their membership fee in the form of donating pumpkins, etc in lieu of cash. As the struggle continued and an impromptu Naga Army called the Safe Guards became necessary for self-defence purposes, ordinary villagers voluntarily contributed rice, paddy and livestock for the maintenance of this army. In fact, many simple villagers contributed huge baskets after baskets of paddy and many livestock for the national cause. Later on, as the self-defence activities expanded, the Federal Government of Nagaland (FGN), started a household tax of a few Rupees from every Naga household. This necessary tax was collected for the running of the government and the maintenance of the Naga army. All these tax-paying activities were done on a voluntary basis and never in the form of extorting the Naga public with threat.
But most annoyingly, today the taxation of the citizens for running the governmental activities is being done in the form of exorbitant extortions by the various breakaway factional governments. In the process, many Naga citizens have even been shot to death for failure to pay up these exorbitant so-called national taxes. As for the armed personnel and civil officers of these factions, I would personally think that only 5% of their whole outfits are genuine national workers. The rest 95% are just masquerades – wholeheartedly engaged in a huge extortion industry. They are of course, assisted by many officials of the Nagaland state government. They have all made their millions out of this booming industry-all at India’s expenses!
As for members of the official NNC and FGN, they are carrying on their official duties in an uninterrupted continuity from 1946 to the present. They have been doing these duties without any salaries or material comforts. In this connection, the present annual NNC membership fee of Rs.20/- and house tax of Rs.200/- for FGN for one whole year has been cleverly evaded by every Naga citizen under the Tribal Hoho’s directive of: “One tax only when all the Naga factional groups unite under one government.” But the fact of our history is one where the official NNC and FGN can never unite with the various factions who- for their own political ideologies and agendas- have broken away from the parent body. In such a situation, to ask the NNC and FGN to join these breakaway groups is not different from asking the NNC and FGN to join the 16 Point Agreement and come under the Constitution of India. Such a proposal is unthinkable because the NNC and FGN were not established so that Nagas can become a “puppet” state under India or have a “shared sovereignty” with India. As for the NNC and FGN, its doors are all wide open for any prodigal son to return home. This is because the NNC and FGN do not belong to some individuals but the whole Naga nation.
Also, in this clever evasive stand of the Naga public, the issue boils down to this conclusion: That whereas yesterday, even poor villagers had donated entire baskets of paddy and cows and pigs freely, the present Naga public are so stingy, they are not willing to donate even Rs.20 and Rs.200 annually as taxes to the legitimate government and political institution of the Naga nation. (Please let the general public note here, that Rs.20 is just the price of one Biri packet and Rs.200 is just the price of a kilogram of pork).
In the light of all these present “evasive” acts on the part of the Naga public, if the original Naga national stand should be grievously injured again in another tragic fiasco like the 16 Point Agreement, let the public not blame the true national workers but blame themselves for all the consequences thereof.
