POSITION PAPER ON THE 9TH GENERAL ELECTION 2007, MANIPUR
United Naga Council (UNC)
Naga struggle for their rights, land and people.
1. Before the partial colonization of the Naga Country, the Nagas lived in Village States and were free from any external political interference and domination. With the coming of the British, boundaries were redrawn arbitrarily to suit their administrative convenience and also to keep the allies of the British in good humour. As a consequence, the Naga territories were placed in the different states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland in India and in Sagiang province and Kachin state of Burma.
2. During the First World War in 1917-1918, Nagas rendered their service in the Labour Corps of the British force and went to France as British subjects. This journey across the land and seas crystallised the concept of Naga Nationalism. In 1918, the Naga Club was formed by the union of politically conscious Nagas and the foundation of future Naga Politics was thus laid.
3. The Naga Club submitted a memorandum to the Simon Commission at Kohima on 10 January in 1929 demanding in clear terms that the Nagas should be left alone as before when the British leave India.
4. In 1930-31, the “Naga Raj” movement was launched by Haipou Jadonang, a Zeliangrong Naga and Rani-Gaidinliu, his cousin sister in the then Tamenglong sub-division to free the people from the yoke of the colonial rule. The former was hanged by the British in 1931 and subsequently Rani Gaidinliu was arrested and jailed.
5. The Nagas of Manipur were independent of the Manipur Raja before the advent of the British. Even after the British came, they were administered by the political department of the British Crown. The Manipur Raja and his darbar administered only the valley area till 15th August 1947.
6. As the departure of the British became imminent, Naga leaders, both in Manipur and in the then Naga Hills District of Assam began to seriously ponder over their political future. Thus the Naga National Council(NNC) was formed by the Naga people in February 1946 to fight for their rights, land and people.
7. Meanwhile, in September 1946, the Naga National League (NNL) was organized to consolidate the Nagas of Manipur in order to bring together the Naga people separated by colonial boundaries.
8. After 15th August 1947, when the paramountcy was transferred to the Maharaja of Manipur without the consent of the hill people, the NNL stated that they will not be part of Manipur since the latter had never conquered the Nagas. The Nagas further declared that it would be impossible for the Nagas to preserve the best of their culture, tradition, customary laws and political practices should the Naga people and their land be split up and placed under different political administration and government. The NNL expressed their strong desire to merge with the Naga Hills District of Assam through the BOYCOTT of the preparation of electoral rolls in Naga areas.
9. The “NO TAX CAMPAIGN” was launched in 1948 when Maharaj Kumar Priyobrata Singh was the Chief Minister of Manipur. The Nagas in Manipur refused to pay the annual House Tax to the Government of Manipur and under the aegis of the NNL submitted their annual house tax to Charles Pawsey, D.C. of Naga Hills of Assam at Kohima. Though the campaign was forcibly suppressed resulting in the death of four volunteers and wounding of many, the seeds of political aspiration sown during that critical time never died. Having realized the futility of the non-violent movement to secure their inalienable right to live together with the rest of the Naga people, the Nagas of Manipur took to arms and became a part of the mainstream armed movement spearheaded by the NNC. The decades of armed conflict that followed culminated in the Indo-Naga Peace Process which today offers to bring about a lasting and honourable solution to the Naga issue which is about their land, the people and their rights.
10. The inherent and organized expression of the desire of the Naga people to live together also continued as a civil movement of which the United Naga Integration Council movement of the 1970s has been well documented.
Developments following the second Indo-Naga Cease fire
11. The second Indo-Naga cease fire that came into effect on 1 August 1997 set into motion a peace process that will lead to its logical conclusion- an honourable solution to the protracted Indo Naga conflict. In the wake of the violent agitation in Imphal valley supported by the Manipur State Government, following the extension of Indo-Naga Cease-fire area coverage beyond territorial limits on 14th June 2001, the Naga people of Manipur under the aegis of the United Naga Council(UNC), held its special session of a Naga Peoples’ Convention(NPC), the apex decision making platform of the Nagas of Manipur on 8th and 9th August, 2001 at Tahamzam(Senapati) and declared “that our identity and history have to be defended and preserved at all cost, and the firm political stand of the Nagas of Manipur is to uphold the resolution of the Naga people for integration of all Naga areas under one administration”.
12. However, the State Government of Manipur, in brazen disregard to the sentiments of the Naga people conferred “martyrdom” to the 18 rioters who died in the violent agitation in which the Indian National flag and the State Assembly Secretariat was burnt; residences of Ministers and MLAs torched; the Indo-Naga Peace Process mocked using PA system and Naga localities in Imphal valley pelted with stones. Attempt was made to raze down the Raj Bhavan and the flag of Meitei Pakhangba was hoisted in front of it. Naga localities in Imphal valley were marked, as the Nazis did that of the Jews, and they were made to identify themselves by their respective tribe name only, without the suffix “Naga”. That day of frenzy and arson was declared a State holiday and christened as “Integrity Day”. To make known our strong resentment over the attempts to suppress our rights with brute majority, an economic blockade of 52 days(19th June, 2005 to 11th August, 2005) was also put into force by the All Naga Students’ Association, Manipur(ANSAM).
13. As desired by the Naga people of Manipur, another NPC was convened by the UNC on the 4th of November 2005 at Taphou village Tahamzam(Senapati), which reiterated the 8-9 August, 2001 Declaration. To further the realization of this declaration, the NPC also declared the launching of Non-cooperation and Civil disobedience movements against the Government of Manipur.
14. In the subsequent “Declaration and Memorandum” submitted to the Prime Minister of India on December 14, 2005 at New Delhi, the Chiefs/Chairmen/Headmen of Naga villages in the present state of Manipur stated in no uncertain terms “that any honourable solution to the Naga peace process must begin with the unification of the Naga areas.”
15. In pursuance of the 4th November, 2005 NPC declaration, the Naga Chiefs/Village Authorities in Manipur have returned the red blankets to the State Government through the respective district administrations. The names of villages, districts etc have been changed to indigenous names. Hill house tax for the year 2006 of all the Naga households in Manipur have not been paid to the Government of Manipur but have instead been collected under the aegis of the UNC for onwards payment to Delhi/Kohima.
16. When the dominant community imposed Meitei Mayek in the school syllabus and distorted Naga history, the All Naga Students’ Association, Manipur (ANSAM) took up the issue and moved for affiliation of schools and colleges in the Naga areas of Manipur to the Nagaland Board of School Education (NBSE) and the Nagaland University (NU) to secure a common syllabus for a unified vision. Thus private schools in Naga areas of Manipur have already introduced the NBSE’s prescribed syllabus from the academic session 2006.
17. Nagas of Manipur have organized rallies, sent delegations to Delhi, submitted representations to the Government of India, and held press conferences to highlight our positions, lobbied for support from Indian political leaders and also eminent members of the Indian civil societies. The Naga people have also had several consultative meetings in Bangkok and at home and also presented the Naga case in various international fora.
18. After a journey of more than 9 year,s the peace process has steadily albeit slowly progressed to this stage where a mutually acceptable new framework is to be worked out for consideration of the Nagas and the Government of India. All through the peace process, the territorial unification of Naga areas by the removal of arbitrary boundaries has remained the foremost priority in the minds of the Naga people. The Nagas are of the unflinching belief that the unification of all Naga territories must be interwoven into the body fabric of the final negotiated settlement of the Indo-Naga issue.
19. While the Naga Civil Societies with the UNC in the lead, with their limitations have tried everything to face emerging challenges, our Achilles’ Heel in the collective effort on the issue of integration of Naga homeland has been in the area of representation in the Manipur Legislative Assembly. While Nagas feel it is more than enough to voice their hearts and minds through the UNC, the apex traditional institution of the Nagas of Manipur, the voices and views of the Naga elected representatives in and outside the Assembly, which has been deafeningly silent, has impacted unfavorably on our aspirations before the Government of India and the world opinion at large.
20. On the other hand, the highly organized dominant community and other anti-Naga forces have consistently worked to dilute, distort and muffle the voice of the Naga people through the numerous mechanism that their ingenuity have always invented even to the extent of denying the existence of the Nagas in the present state of Manipur. And all these while we have allowed our voices to be drown out because the representatives we have mandated have not done enough or too little.
Our preparedness for the 9th General Assembly Election, Manipur 2007:
21. As the peace process continued, the typical dynamics of electoral politics operated in parallel – the politicians have executed the politics of tribalism, money power, political party tickets, vested interests etc. Leaving the Naga vision in the backburner, they have utilised the years of their tenure to consolidate their space in the politicking drama.
22. It is a tragedy that some of the most strident critics who function against the aspiration of the Nagas are themselves Naga representatives in the Manipur Legislative Assembly. They have manipulated the political equations in their respective constituencies in such a way that they can return to power in the next election. Such representatives cannot be mandated again as they have failed to responsibly act before this great opportunity of strengthening the Indo-Naga peace process and have willfully refused to be factors in securing the aspirations of the Naga people for a unified Naga homeland.
23. On 7 February 2002, 47 prospective Naga candidates to the 8th General Assembly Election, Manipur most enthusiastically and willingly gave their undertakings to the Naga people to the effect that they would support the peace process and protect the inherent rights of the Nagas if elected to the State Assembly. 11 Naga candidates were thus elected from amongst those who gave the undertaking and now their time of reckoning has come before the Naga people. From mere lip service to half hearted signatures in support of the peace process and volte-face in the next moment, the Nagas have been betrayed by the very people in whom we have placed our trust.
Objective for participation in the democratic/electoral process in Manipur
24. With the 9th General Assembly election at hand, the UNC, its constituent Tribe Councils/Hohos and the Naga civil societies have decided to define the objectives with which the Naga people must approach the same for securing representatives through whom the voice of the Naga people can be articulated loud, clear and consistently. They are outlined as follows :
1. To fulfill the inherent and democratic aspiration of the Naga people for unification of all Naga homeland
2. To mobilize the peoples’ fullest support to the ongoing Indo-Naga political dialogue for an honorable solution
3. To provide leadership to society in nation building
4. To promote the common interest of all ethnic communities in the State.
25. As a democratic people, we have matured over the years because our practice of democracy is rooted in our culture and tradition. The compulsions which have determined political participation in the past, that have been defined by personal, economic and tribal considerations in the geo-political dynamics of what is the present state of Manipur are no longer relevant to the march of the Nagas to their destiny.
26. The UNC mandated by the Naga people through the NPC declaration of August 2001 to carry forward the declared objectives of the declaration takes this opportune moment to uphold and exercise the principles of the NPC declaration, so that every tribe through its villages while reiterating the NPC resolution from the grassroot level, developes the Naga perspective through which we will as a people negotiate the forthcoming 9th general assembly election.
Appeals to the Nagas
27. At this crucial juncture, the UNC appeal to the Nagas of Manipur to choose/elect only those candidates who have no party affiliation whatsoever, who enjoys the confidence of their respective constituencies, who are God fearing and who subscribes to the NPC declaration and the above 4 objectives to work unitedly with his/her other fellow Naga representatives elected in the same manner.
28. The UNC therefore appeals to the Naga people and all the Tribal Councils/Hohos to value our inherent democratic tradition where people are empowered to make decisions based on ‘consensus’ which has always been for the larger interest. This election must reflect the wish of the Naga people to live together with their Naga brethren and not fall victim to propagandists, party politics or forces inimical to the Naga aspiration which is embodied in the NPC declaration.
29. The UNC appeal to the Naga people of Manipur through their respective Tribal Council/Hohos; Churches; intelligentsia; professionals, Women, Youth and Students’ organisations to rally behind the call to mutually strengthen our struggle for the unification of the Nagas. This is possible through the empowerment of the people, where our people free themselves from the clutches of power mongering politicians, who been always guided by their self centred agenda.
30. The Nagas of Manipur have to go beyond the immediate compulsions of personal gains; family, clan, village and tribal interests and political opportunism. We must ensure the return of responsible candidates with clear visions who will represent the Nagas aspirations and carry forward our struggle for peace, justice and freedom. It is an uphill task but we must do it because we know what awaits us if we don’t.
We must therefore, proceed with conviction and clear headedness, undeterred by machinations and negative views projected by vested interest, for our future and that of our children.
