Dr. Imkongliba Ao, the morale pole of Naga movement for statehood was not blessed with a long life. We have lost a beacon in the state too early in life. History will not forgive, for good or for worse, if we do not remember the man of such stature who appropriated a state for the Nagas from the Republic of India. There were several Naga stalwarts who stood firmly with Dr. Ao and together they resisted Assamisation of Naga Hills, fought for separation from the province of Assam and to curve out a state for the Nagas. Dr. Ao was only the first among equals.
Perhaps no new state was born in more difficult circumstances than Nagaland. The building of a united Naga state, the nurturing of democratic ethos in a poor and divided society, and the safe guarding of tribal honor and dignity in an increasingly polarized political climate was a nightmare for any leader. But the pioneer Naga leaders were talented and were men of calibre. They rescued the Nagas from strong armed brutality of the Indian army - burning, grouping and re-location of villages which were military strategies of economic suppression causing near famine condition and in the process even the possibility of extinction of the Naga race. The struggle and sacrifices of the pioneers has given Nagas an identity, a status and an expression before the world.
Today, Nagaland is not deprived of two square meals a day. Nagaland has a Governor, Chief Minister, Ministers, MLAs, Judiciary, free press and host of bureaucrats and technocrats manning the affairs of the state. Electoral battles with no holds barred are fought fiercely in the state with one of the highest voters turn out in India. Dr. Ao and the leaders of the Naga People’s Convention (NPC) have given something to have a future for the next Naga generation. Today we belong to that next generation. Honestly, did we remember them on the 50th Anniversary of Nagaland statehood which was celebrated on 1st December 2013? Dignity and hope which have found expression in our lives today, is their cherished legacy.
India’s policy approach towards the tribals was a divided one. One policy was to leave the tribals alone and not to be poisoned by outside world. The second policy was to assimilate them completely into main stream culture by evicting them from their culture. Jawaharlal Nehru was not in favor of these two policy approaches. According to Nehru tribals should not be isolated and secondly their culture should not be destroyed as there are many virtues in their cultures to be adopted by mainstream culture. There were two basic parameters of the Nehruvian approach: “the tribal areas have to progress” and “they have to progress in their own way”. Moreover, whatever changes were needed would be “worked out by the tribal themselves”. The absence of any political or cultural contact with the rest of India was another striking difference. Nehru said, “they never experienced a sensation of being in a country called India and they were hardly influenced by the struggle for freedom or other movement in India.” The British too left Nagas more or less undisturbed.
From 1947 onwards, the government of India followed a policy of integrating the Naga areas with the state of Assam. The Nagas under the leadership of A.Z. Phizo opposed the integration and treated the Indian government as aggressor against Naga sovereignty. It is a fact that even as late as 1947 there were Naga inhabited territories that were never occupied by British rulers. This led to confrontation between the government of India and the Nagas which ultimately led to violent armed conflict. In the meantime government of India made it clear that it would oppose firmly any recourse to armed conflict.
For long Nagas have suffered many untold sufferings - human rights violation, forced labour, arbitrary arrests and torture, sexual assault, forced re-location of villages, etc. Though Indian army was allowed to operate under very difficult situations, their record in Nagaland has not been without blemish. Their actions were never tested legally before the higher judiciary of this country.
Despite military intervention, Nehru still believed in friendly reconciliation. He knew that despite reverses suffered, guerilla warfare could not be crushed purely by military action and that ultimate solution lay in political settlement. Nehru too was a non-violent freedom fighter, a liberal humanist and a socialist. He carried on a long negotiation with a more non violent and moderate Naga leaders and that, in brief, led to the formation of the Naga People’s Convention (NPC). Nehru was instrumental to make Naga leaders to realize that they could not get a more understanding leader to settle with than Nehru himself.
However, the Naga secessionists could not be prevailed upon to accept conciliation that fell short of Naga independence. The then Naga People’s Convention, too, could not prevail upon them to bring about a rapprochement.
The third Naga People’s Convention was held at Mokokchung in October 1959 with Dr. Ao as their president. It was a mammoth gathering of Naga tribes. There, a demand was formulated for the constitution of Naga Hills district as a full fledged new state to be named as Nagaland with provisions of autonomy to safeguard the interest of the Nagas. It was a smart move by NPC. It caught the government of India by surprise. Now the government of India had to choose between the demand of the NNC under A.Z. Phizo for independence and the NPC demand for full statehood. It sent shock waves to the Assamese politicians as this would be the beginning of Assam’s disintegration.
As a true democrat and a socialist Pandit Nehru could not defy the democratic urges of a reasonable section of the Nagas. In August 1960, the Prime Minister Nehru moved the Indian parliament to constitute a new state to be named as Nagaland. The secessionist Nagas rejected the demand of the Naga People’s Convention lock, stock and barrel and resisted its implementation. They were blamed, no doubt, for hijacking freedom movement and for settling down to a separate state within India.
At a time when Dr. Ao emerged as President of NPC, Naga Hills was a violent country, teetering on the verge of ruthless conflict. His efforts helped the Nagas to avert an impending disastrous war. There were critics who had been predicting that the state would collapse sooner or later due to external and internal forces working against it. All of these furies were coming together – ambitions, hatred and dissensions that would have ripped the Nagas apart, at worst destroy itself. But the leaders of the NPC were a dedicated lot, pragmatic and optimistic. They were an asset for Naga’s early effort at territorial inclusion of the Naga areas and its progress that enthused Nagas around to proceed towards their urges for development and modernization. The Nagas of that time vibrated at their courage, moral resonance and leadership. Crucial in this concept was the role played by Dr. Ao and the idea he propounded. After all, no race can live purely on the steam of the barrel of the gun. We see it today in the success of our people that still weave this community together despite all the violence and greed.
Broad consensus on the basic contours of Nagaland that was to be build on the values of people’s aspirations, unification of tribes and their rapid modernization was their guiding principle. There was also a realization among the pioneer leaders that this consensus had to be widened and build upon continuously. They were building greater Nagaland by bringing in the eastern Naga areas of NEFA Division into the newly constituted Nagalan d. The initial period was characterized by spectacular growth and infrastructure that was spread widely. Their struggle for a separate state was the only possible option available at that period of Naga history against physical suppression of the Nagas by the much stronger military assault.
This was followed by a series of agreement and Acts of Parliament such as 16 Point Agreement, State of Nagaland Act 1962 and the Constitution (13th Amendment) Act of 1962 that enlarged the scope of autonomy for the state of Nagaland under Article 371 (A) of the Constitution. In contrast, the succeeding leaders and politicians could not carry the special provision guaranteed to its logical conclusion by way of appropriate modification and correction mainly due to the paucity of strong political leadership and the death of Nehru soon thereafter. Public opinion and ideology may differ but let there be a positive impact over every action and reaction. Therefore, whatever maybe the reason, for good or for worse, history will not forget the pioneer founders of the state of Nagaland for bringing in an amount of peace, unique autonomy and advancement to this unhappy land.
Mapu Jamir I.A.S. (Retd)
