Aheli Moitra
A Naga man, on his return from Khamti (Burma), held his hand out to demonstrate the ring on his finger. Though without elegant craftsmanship, it had gold and jade from the banks of the River Chindwin. This river runs through what the Naga people consider homeland but many Naga people from the last two generations have not seen the Chindwin valley, its river following a dramatic course, rich with natural mineral resources.
The picture also has a foreground—the Naga people living on this land. The ‘Naga Self-Administered Zone’, created through the 2008 constitution of Myanmar, allotted three mountainous townships to the Nagas—Layshi, Lahe and Nanyung. This left out the aforesaid banks with the rich mineral deposits, and gave “self administration” to only part of the Naga people in Myanmar. Sounds oddly familiar to conditions on this side of the fence, but with an exception. The Naga people of Nagaland enjoy an inherent right, given by the Indian state on condition no doubt, to the land and its resources. Being indigenous to the land, the Naga people need no such right to be “given” but had that been realized 60 years back, much of history would be different.
In Myanmar things are unlike this. All land belongs to the state. Development activities can take place without responsibility to the people, or fair shares. The NSCN (Khaplang)’s long years of struggle for self determination has created an irony for the people—here’s someone fighting for rights without any means to develop the land and its people. As a result, say some, the 2,00,000 Nagas living in the Self-Administered Zone have been unable to develop frameworks of rights; there is a severe lack of modern education, healthcare or legal systems. There are others who believe that the Nagas in Myanmar still maintain the village-to-village independence, which leads them remain a disjointed people.
So, now, following a ceasefire, state machinery will move in and develop the Naga areas in Myanmar. The speed at which this moves could be very crucial for the people—without addressing the question of rights, the region will continue to simmer. Depending on the route that development takes, violence could dwindle or worsen. Take the case of the hills of Manipur, for instance, where the conditions are similar. The indigenous people do not have the formal recognition of, or protection of, land and related resources. Development activities that benefit people, like roads, have not been taken care of but oil exploration is attempted to be expedited. This has created a number of mini wars between actors the activity seeks to advantage. People have noticed this and protested against the model of development.
With a ceasefire in place, and talks expected to begin at some point with the Union of Myanmar, the NSCN (K) should demand a framework of rights to be set in place simultaneous to development of the people. The long years of struggle, and allied conflict, can easily come back to bite either of the parties if the people feel that instead of development, the state has been given the license to raid. In Burma, this could be especially easy with a military rule refusing to leave without trace.
