At an uncertain time of 'cloak and dagger' environment most unfortunately induced by NSCN (IM) when there is virtually no clue whatsoever about the so-called "Framework Agreement", between NSCN (IM) and Mr. Ravi (the 'Prime Ministerial level' retired bureaucrat Interlocutor to the GoI), on 3rd August 2015, the article exclusively carried by Morung Express on Wednesday 20.04.2016 titled "Emerging contours of the Naga settlement" by one Mr. Bharat Bhushan, a senior mainland journalist, is a welcome insight that the Nagas can at least ponder over and try to understand the consequences thereof, on the assumption that he (Mr. Bharat Bhushan) was actually privy to reliable inner source of information. Since all not subscribing to Morung Express would have missed out on this news item let me recap the contents verbatim just so that the readers are enabled to exercise their mind on what Mr. Bharat Bhushan had to say: (Quote): "According to the Naga sources close to the negotiations, four points of agreement have been reached:
One, a Pan Naga Hoho (essentially, a supreme Naga Council cutting across Naga-inhabited states) will be created as a statutory apex body with legislative, budgetary and negotiating powers. This will be an elected body and govern the Nagas eventually.
Two, pending the integration of the Naga areas outside Nagaland into a single administrative unit, Regional Autonomous District Councils (RADCs) will be created for the Naga-inhabited districts of Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. These will come under the Pan Naga Hoho.
Three, the Indian Parliament will enact a Special Naga Law which will be incorporated in the Indian Constitution. The Special Naga Law will contain the division of competencies...subjects in the State, Union and Concurrent Lists of the Indian Constitution...between the Centre and the Nagas. In this way, what the NSCN (IM) calls the Naga Constitution will become an integral part of the Indian Constitution.
Four, all natural resources found in the Naga areas-below the ground and on the surface- will belong to the Nagas. They will have full right to exploit them except in cases where they feel that they need to partner with the central government and its entities. In such cases, joint venture agreements will be signed for exploration and exploitation of resources". (Unquote).
Interestingly, NSCN (IM) has not refuted this article by Mr. Bharat Bhushan. Not wanting a tag as the sole conscientious objector to the "Framework Agreement" on ground of its lack of transparency, this author has been withholding his opinion from the public domain for the past weeks in the hope that some other intellectuals in the multitude just might join the fray and address this controversial subject. That this is not about to happen is more or less apparent by the silence so far maintained which therefore prompts this author to candidly evaluate our circumstance...starting with a presumptuous question: Is this a lethal ploy of NSCN (IM) to claim that the people of Nagaland had been given an opportunity to react to the 'leaked contents' of the agreement through the mainland journalist Mr. Bharat Bhushen, but that the Nagas remained silent...which would be registered as a consent? So as to negate this remote possibility, the following dispassionate, analytical views are being presented in response: Agreement No. 1(One): Pan Naga Hoho as a Statutory Apex Body with Legislative, Budgetary and Negotiating powers seems to snugly fit into the present NSCN (IM) "Yehzabo" which is a "one party hierarchy under a Collective leadership" as the Supreme Naga Council. The fundamental issue that critically need unambiguous public affirmation is whether the NSCN (IM) seriously intends to adopt their present "one party" archaic "Red Book Communist Philosophy of Mao Zedong", (which has already been abandoned even by the Chinese Government themselves), as the applying yardstick of governance should they get the opportunity to form the Government after the negotiated settlement? So that no one is in doubt, Mr. Isak Swu, the President of NSCN (IM) and Mr. Th.Muivah, the Prime Minister of NSCN (IM), unequivocally maintains that their NSCN (IM) "Yehzabo" will be the final applicable constitution for the Nagas. This is a statement from the horses' mouth directly heard several times in the distant past by this author. Their "Preamble" specifically begins with "We, the people of Nagaland". The pertinent question that immediately comes to mind is: If integration is eventually achieved, is this "Yehzabo" comprehensive enough to be applicable to all Nagas beyond Nagaland even if it is without their consent? In the absence of their endorsement the moral sanctity of the present "Yehzabo" becomes redundant. Further, one fails to understand when "We, the people of Nagaland" actually consented to live under an alien Communistic regime or agree to allow the State to nationalise all our personal movable/immovable properties. In all ominous likelihood however, it will be shoved down our throat with AK 47. No matter what the inner resentment is, the brave Nagas of Nagaland will tamely swallow this bitter pill after it is too late because everyone seriously believes in living... even if in perpetual fear. Fellow Nagas, the time is perilously rife for all of us to carefully study the deadly "Yehzabo" of the NSCN (IM) before communism takes over our lives for all times to come. This is a looming reality waiting to happen. We better speak out loud and clear... for or against...and NOW is the opportune time to do it! Agreement No. 2 (Two) reinforces agreement No. 1 (One) that... "pending"... meaning even without a physical integration of the Naga areas outside Nagaland into a single administrative unit, Regional Autonomous District Councils (RADCs) will be created for the Naga-inhabited districts of Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam which will come under the Pan Naga Hoho. Mr. Bhatar Bhushan continues his commentary saying (Quote): "The foremost among them are - the integration of Naga areas; and the issue of the Pan Naga Hoho's legislative powers when there is already an elected government in Nagaland mandated to exercise such powers. On the issue of integration, the government is believed to have told the Nagas that it cannot put a deadline as State boundaries can only be changed through democratic process. That means taking into account the views of the inhabitants of other states which stand to lose territory to the Nagas- Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. The NSCN (IM) has been told that they should appreciate that the government cannot create a situation which leads to further chaos in the North-eastern States. Although there are tentative suggestions for setting up a mechanism like the State Re-organisation Commission, the integration of Naga areas, while on the negotiating table, is unlikely to happen any time soon. Until there is integration of Naga areas, there cannot be two governments for the Nagas- the elected government of Nagaland and the Pan Naga Hoho. Therefore, sources suggest, that in the interim period- for which no limit has been set- there will be only one government that would enjoy legislative power, and that would be the elected government of Nagaland state. The residual powers of the Pan Naga Hoho, including its finances, in the interim period would then have to be defined" (Unquote).
Reading between the lines a great many uncomfortable scenarios emerges. The transition from the existing elected government to that of the NSCN (IM) government would not be such a big deal since the 60 Ali Babas in the NLA having already made their policy commitment to resign and give way to NSCN (IM). But does this mean that Nagaland would eventually be reduced and equated with all the other RADCs of Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh as an affiliate to the Pan Naga Hoho being projected as the Supreme Naga Council...a Naga Parliament of sort, "with legislative, budgetary and negotiating powers"? Would the Nagas of Nagaland accept the inconceivable reduction of their full fledged State to that of RADCs equivalent from other States to fit into the Pan Naga Hoho scenario? The other possible aspect that comes out from the woodwork is that as an equal affiliate of the Pan Naga Hoho, to which Nagaland also becomes just another member like the rest of RADCs from Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh, any member from any of the affiliated states will derive a legitimate claim to becoming the Chairman of the Collective Ledership or the Supreme Naga Council. Does this ring a bell? Does this simply mean that Mr. Muivah, (along with the hoard of other Tangkhul brothers), is paving a way to get a legitimate vehicle of entry into Nagaland, which they cannot under the present circumstances as Manipuri Nagas, riding on Pan Naga Hoho on the basis of physical integration being the end game projection even if practically 'pending'? What uncomfortably brings to the fore in addition is the factual status of the present Naga Hoho, (which in effect is actually a Pan Naga Hoho) where Nagas of Nagaland are a minority within the forum that originally belonged to them. Is this existing farce of a setup being intended for replication?
Learning from history, the NPC in its hurry to create a State had left the issue of integration and the State boundary pending for future consideration which never happened. Is NSCN (IM) inclined to accept the same deceptive argument of the GoI and hurriedly plunge into a settlement without the issue of integration and the 'National' boundary being resolved? The uniqueness of the Naga History is equally applicable to all the other Naga inhabited areas and therefore reclaiming our birthright by undoing the past arbitrary injustice of fragmenting and gifting the Naga inhabited areas to other states in the first place is a legitimate honourable claim even if it leads to further chaos in the North-eastern States for which the Nagas need not feel guilty about. True, chaos may be generated by other North-eastern States but so can Nagas if this original arbitrary injustice is not righted. If this matter is left unattended to before the final settlement, the complexity will get further compounded and vitiated after Nagaland assumes a separate looking entity from India and history will repeat itself for certain.
Agreement No. 3(three) can perhaps be seen as the most contentious aspect of the lot concerning the Indian Parliament enactment of a Special Naga Law which will be incorporated in the Indian Constitution. The NSCN (IM) may call it the Naga Constitution but it will nevertheless become an integral part of the Indian Constitution. This is where NSCN (IM) ought to honestly see and concede that, the "Framework Agreement" scenario as presented by Mr. Bharat Bhushan (Agreement No. Three) if true, is not very different from the "Shillong Accord 1975" or the "16-Point Agreement" that they vehemently condemn... an ultimate capitulation to the Indian Constitution, no matter whichever way English words and phrases are twisted and used to make it look or sound more honourable... in its final analogy. The rest is simply an exercise of refinement on the existing Article 371 (A)/ 16-Point Agreement with more specific details being added. It should be remembered that NPC was able to salvage a significant status of a foreign entity when Nagaland was originally placed under the Foreign Affairs Ministry with Consolidated funding pattern, which was unilaterally undone by GoI without due process, consultation or consent by the Naga people but the gullible Nagas of that generation did not even realise that they were surreptitiously hoodwinked... for no fault of NPC.
One can only hope that the NSCN (IM) can revive the original status of a 'foreign entity' while working on the final details but the present face value of the "Framework Agreement" significantly assumes an epic proportion of the last nail being driven into "sovereignty" coffin that the Nagas have fought for all these years.
Having said this however, the present generation of pragmatic Nagas may not necessarily be too averse to the new "Global Village" concept or the European sovereignty experience where a common currency called 'Euros' overrides their respective Sovereign political boundaries for their common economic wellbeing. Therefore, instead of exhibiting a belligerent arrogance on such a hyper contentious matter of a "full-fledged sovereignty" that they are not about to achieve, NSCN (IM) ought to exercise temperance and humility and coordinate with all the other NPGs on equal terms to get them on board and let them also understand the complexities involved and come to terms together. There is no room for unpalatable selfish EGO at a pressurised time such as this. They need burry their insufferable ego. This is the only way forward for a permanent peace in our land.
Khekiye K. Sema IAS (Rtd) Upper Forest Colony, Kohima
