Since, it is the desire of all Nagas to live under one administrative unit, all sections of Naga people are united when it comes to the question of “Naga integration”. Throughout all times, various Public Organizations, Political parties, Social Organizations, like the Naga People Convention (NPC), Naga National Organization (NNO), Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA), United Naga Integration Council (UNIC) or Naga Integration Council Committee, Manipur (NICC), Naga Students Federation (NSF), Naga People’s Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR), Naga Hoho, United Naga Council (UNC) and others have been demanding, passing resolutions and submitting memorandums to the government of India for Naga integration.
In the India side too, since from the very inception, the leaders of the Government of India (GoI) had in mind, the need to bring all Naga areas into one administrative unit. This was very clear when Pandit Nehru in his letter to Sri. B.R. Medhi, Chief Minister of Assam, dated 13th May 1956 stated that, “One of their grievances is that under our Constitution we split them up in different political areas. Whether it is possible or desirable to bring them together again is for us to consider”.
Besides that, the leaders of the GoI, and the Nagas those who signed the 16th Point Agreement and accepted the statehood of Nagaland knew themselves very well that it was not the final settlement of the Naga politicalissue. Deliberately, they kept the Naga integration issue pending, perhaps at the behest of the men of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) because at that time the Indian leadership and pro-India Naga leaders did everything in Nagaland to the Nagas through IB.
In the past, the India side only asked the Nagas to abandon the dream of total independence. In all other aspects, Nagas were offered free to mold their destinies as they pleased, all Nagas had to give up is control the Army, foreign affairs, and currency. “Take everything but not sovereignty” was what (we heard) Prime Minister Indira Gandhi told Prime Minister Kughato Sukhai during their last round of talks. Even before war was started in Nagaland, it’s learnt that Pandit Nehru advised A. Z. Phizo “To work within the Indian constitution and assured that the GoI would stand by the Nagas and help them to obtain their rightful place, and everything possible would be done for the Nagas”.
So, the question before us is, when India had offered to the Nagas everything i.e. including the demand for Naga integration or even more than that, who is blocking the way for the Nagas to achieve “Naga integration”, a demand put up by all Naga Public Organizations, Social Organizations and state Political Parties.
Obviously, India side kept the Naga integration issue pending, solely in exchange to solve what they called the ‘Naga insurgency problem’ i.e. to accede to “Naga Integration” when Nagas agree to accept and settle within Indian constitution. On the other hand, the Nagas, those who demanded for Naga integration were also doing so, not for as final settlement of the Indo-Naga issue because every Naga is well aware of what the Nagas are fighting for. They demanded it, as it’s also a necessity and a rightful demand of the Nagas.
So, what we understood is, if all the Nagas come overground or if we Nagas stop fighting our rights for independence, India would had long before granted us “Naga integration”, which means we don’t even, need to shed blood or sacrifice lives to achieve it. For, India was angry and worried about the Nagas because we refused to surrender our rights and be under them. But, India’s reasons were not because that they have the rights to claim Nagaland; nor for the reason of their concern for the Nagas. It was solely because of their own self-fish interest and avarice for Nagaland and more of this part of the region.
To come back at the beginning: Just at the appropriate time, the IB’s officials found some cowardly educated Naga men’s heart swept clean and put in order for them to work together. As a result, those few so called educated Naga men begun to work selfishly and chose Naga’s future to be within the union of India, disregarding and trampling under their feet the Plebiscite of 16th May 1951 where 99.9 % of Naga people had voted in favor of a free Independent Nagaland, much to the chagrin of the whole Naga nation. Dr. S.C. Jamir was an example of such pro-India Naga leader.
However, in reality, the statehood of Nagaland was gifted to those opportunist leaders purely to undermine the solidarity of the Naga people who stood as one behind their leader A. Z. Phizo and NNC. It was never an achievement of those opportunist Naga leaders.
But, the irony of the situation today is that what some Naga national leaders are demanding or some leaders even dare not to make demand to the GoI, were not supposed to be that much difficult things to be achieved long before itself by those pro-India Naga leaders who we called as betrayers of the Naga people, if the Naga people chose their path and co-operated with them since from the very inception.
Hence, the so-called Naga national leaders are the Pharisees of the Naga people, for leading many Nagas to suffer and die in the name of an independent “Nagaland for Christ”, whereas they themselves are not determined and truthful to the cause and chickened out at last, and are now bargaining a piecemeal solution within the Indian constitution.
When they’re petulant, they pretended to be quite determined to the cause of “Nagaland for Christ” and blamed others and said, “No one in whatever name or capacity has the authority to settle the Indo-Naga issue ‘Within Indian Union”. But when the GoI invites them, and take their turn for negotiation, they said, ‘Independence for the Naga Nation’ in the present context is not possible nor is the ‘Integration of Naga inhabited areas in India and Myanmar.’
No space to mention here all the deeds of their hypocrisy but one more important point is: Time and again they called and warned the Nagas, particularly their cadres to repent of their sins….Right! But the sins which the people dreaded most before God among the sins committed by the underground men are ‘factional killings and awarding of capital punishment’, the sins of the leaders of the land for Christ – Pharisees of the Naga people.
Lt. Col. Z. D. Akho, Naga Army
