Soma Banerjee
Kohima | September 28
“I don’t see how things will be different if Nagaland manages to get sovereignty,” says P. Tulumatsung Longkumer as he busily fills up a form on the Internet at a computer centre in Mokokchung district. A graduate from St Anthony’s College, Shillong, Longkumer is more interested in his next career move.
A few yards from the computer centre, at a grocery-cum-telephone booth, Kareena Kapoor and Aishwarya Rai look seductively out of two posters. “Kareena is my favourite,” beams the teenaged shopkeeper. Interestingly, there is no sign of posters of any Naga icons.
“We are happy with India but sovereignty is still a must for Nagaland,” says the youth. When asked what he will gain from sovereignty, he only smiles.
As the NSCN (I-M) leaders continue to pitch for sovereignty, the ground reality in Nagaland barely reflects the fiery patriotism of a “nation” seeking self-determination.
“The tribes of Nagaland are unique and to preserve this uniqueness we need sovereignty,” says Temjemkaba, Ao Senden president, in between sips of beer at the Assam Rifles base in Mokokchung.
For the younger generation, however, which has absorbed the concept of global citizenship as much as the inherited demand for “sovereignty”, the question of identity seems overshadowed by the more immediate concerns of livelihood.
Even as they voice their desire to form a separate nation, villagers have to depend on the “Indian” security forces for basic amenities like roads and drinking water.
“People are tired of extortion and violence. Though the general atmosphere is congenial towards us because of our military civic projects, they are afraid to say so out of fear for the underground groups,” claimed Maj. Gen. S.S. Kumar, IG, Assam Rifles.
Documents seized by the armed forces during various operations reveal the extent of extortion.
An “information” sheet signed by the “deputy general accountant officer” of the Government of the Republic of Nagalim — a parallel government run by the NSCN (I-M) — announces that “employee tax will be 24 per cent of the total emolument of a month’s salary of the employee”.
An equally detailed “tax” form, signed by “Lt Col Meyu, Naga Army” and addressed to village heads, specifies the exact amount each household needs to pay.
“Ration tax per household shall be Rs 120, non-negotiable,” says the information sheet.
“All mission workers, widows/widowers, handicaps whose financial/economy are stable shall not be exempted,” the document adds. The common man can only bear this “tax” in silence.
Caught in the crossfire between ideology and ground reality, of the army and the NSCN, of peace and uncertainty, “sovereignty” seems too complicated a concept to chew on.
The Telegraph
