Joel Naga
The not so civil refrains of some organizations and individuals in Nagaland roughly translating as, ‘They are going to swamp us!,’ ‘The southern hordes are going to take away our land!,’ have become a yoke upon us; and like good gullible people we seem to have fallen for the hate & fear narrative hook, line and sinker. We as a people flourish in such poisons.
The Naga Memorandum to Simon Commission dated 10 January 1929 was signed by Angami, Kacha Naga, Kuki, Lotha, Sumi, and Rengma representative/s. I suppose they spoke for all Nagas including for the absentee Aos, the eastern tribes, the western tribes, the northern tribes and the southern tribes? So are we now to say that only the signatory tribes are the blue bloods and the rest plebeians? That the so-called late comers have no part in the inheritance?
The idea of One People One Nation didn’t stop here. The 9 Point Agreement incorporated Integration of all Naga inhabited areas. June 1947.
The Nagas declared their independence on 14th August 1947 based on the principle that Nagas everywhere – India and Burma – were and are still a free people. But we seem not to realize that this declaration was legitimate ONLY because the eastern tribes were never fully subjugated by the British. The foundation of the broad based Naga movement was based on the single specific fact that the eastern tribes were FREE PEOPLES – never conquered by the Mughals or by the British. Does this imply only the eastern tribes are qualified to lay claim to Naga nationalism or its legacy? Should they? And the rest of us Nagas are just usurpers? Are we?
Later on the 16 Point Agreement incorporated the idea of One Nation.
Therefore, the slogan ‘Nagas of Nagaland’ is out of tune with historical realities, painfully divisive, offensive to our sensibilities and …toxic to the core. The slogan hints at Nagaland state as a God-demarcated territory which is simply arrogant and blasphemous.
The Pan-Naga body is only a means to an end
Naga-lim, like Zionism, is a political thought with reference to land and its people but Naga-lim as an overarching political thought was never fully understood by stakeholders. The Naga political groups spear-heading the Naga discourse could never appreciate the meaningfulness of the 16 Point Agreement and Article 371A; nor the proponents (politicians and intellectuals) of this agreements/Article 371A make it clear enough that these were never meant to be full stops in the unbroken train of Naga journey. This fractured and incomplete understanding of the Naga journey muddied the political waters or divided peoples into ‘For’ and ‘Against’ and ‘Us’ Vs ‘Them’ narrative.
In any movement, there would be lulls and its momentum slowed but never broken until the final destination has been reached. Nagaland was never meant to be a full stop. It is only a stop-gap by-product of Naga-lim. So is the Pan-Naga body. Thus, just like the Nagaland narrative, any settlement brought about, including Pan Naga, can only be a part of the Naga-lim narrative and not the whole experience. I can only concur that to reject Pan-Naga is to reject the notion of Naga nationhood. And if one is not fighting for the nation, then we can very well surmise that one is fighting for his own personal position, power and status.
The real reason for opposition to Pan-Naga body reeks of petty tribal mindset with an irrational fear that ‘Them’ will dominate us. Really? Are the ‘southern hordes’ going to cart away our cattle, horses, tents and our women? Is the fear of south Nagas planting their feet in Nagaland so great that we’ll go to the extent of opposing the next best alternative arrangement – in a situation where Naga integration is not possible at this juncture after decades of war and countless sacrifices? Shall we reduce the Naga issue to mere tribal squabbles for land and resources in Dimapur sector which is equivalent to India reducing the Naga political issue to law and order problem? The problem with ‘Us’ is that we are unable to humble ourselves and see the good in others. This ‘Nagas of Nagaland’ campaign is nothing but a hate filled charade pandering to a fearful audience by insecure minds. It is unchristian and immoral. This peddling If not arrested will be political suicide for all of us.
At the end of the day majority Nagas are perhaps not fools to buy the ‘Us’ Vs ‘Them’ narrative. For all their flaws, the southern Nagas have shouldered the responsibility of carrying the Naga movement to where it is today, and it is only right that they enjoy the fruits of their labour with their other brothers at the same table. Opposition to Pan-Naga body based on speculative, half-baked and irrational fear of subjugation will only strengthen the hand of our de facto Chief Minister R. N. Ravi to further erode the talks to a point where the final content will not be worth the paper it is printed upon. Therefore it is doubly important that the conglomeration of 14 Naga tribes do not write to the Prime Minister of India airing their opposition to the Pan-Naga body. To do such would be betrayal of our history and its people, not to mention who is pulling the strings.
The problem is not ‘Them.’ The problem is ‘Us’. The common refrain of the day in Gideon’s time was, I presume, ‘The Midianites are coming, run to the caves!’ It is utterly inexplicable that God’s chosen people, the Israelites, should live in torrid fear of the pagan Midianites but they did. Fear pervades us today because the truth is long gone. Its best manifestation is in the fear of our own kind. The only explanation to such irrational fear in the Israelites was attributable to their sins.
There is nothing like a good dialogue to bridge communication gaps. We face a far greater adversary than the combined might of all Nagas can imagine. This is the right time for the NSCN (IM) and the WC of the NNPGs to come together minus the power-broker leaders of civil society. On their part, the NSCN (IM) as the most comprehensive organization should embrace their fellow brothers in the other groups. Then who is to say that backed by the combined might of the Naga people on one hand and led by the guiding hand of the Almighty on the other side, the NPGs (Naga people) will not see a breakthrough?
The spiritual laws cannot be twisted at our convenience and yet hope for gains in this world. For the Word of God says, “Every kingdom (and nation/peoples*) divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or (Naga*) house divided against itself shall not stand.” Matthew, 12:25.
The slogan ‘Nagas of Nagaland’ is self-destructive and no one who claims to love his land and his people can embrace it.
