Kolezo Chase
Spokesperson, Naga National Council
The Indo-Naga issue/problem has always been viewed as an internal problem of India by India and, therefore, has branded the Nagas variously in accordance with the changing international situations and narratives by India to keep up with her international image as a so-called democracy. These various brands of names include “hostiles”, “rebels”, “undergrounds”, “insurgents”. Likewise, the Indo-Naga issue has been termed as ‘a socio-economic problem’, ‘insurgency problem’, ‘political problem’ etc. This has successfully paved a way for India to continue her hold on Nagaland by creating a puppet state through blackmail and by befooling the international community. This subterfuge has given the illusion that the Nagas want to secede from India, while she herself pose as a guardian and mother of democracy.
The Indo-Naga issue is by no means or by any stretch of the imagination an internal political problem of India. It is a case of aggression on Nagaland by India; it is a bilateral issue as has been historically proven through historic events in the period of decolonization. These historic events viz. the memorandum to the Simon Commission 1929, the Declaration of Naga Independence on the 14th of August 1947, the Plebiscite of 1951, the total non participation in the first Indian general elections forced upon the Nagas in 1952 etc. In spite of all these India chose to invade Nagaland. The logic that Nagaland is part of India befuddles the mind if you have any two brain cells to rub together, especially when presented with the facts. The Nagas had no alternative but to fight for the defense of their country. This fight for a nation’s survival has been insidiously termed as a political problem of India. Meanwhile, India also instigated erstwhile Burma, with whom the Nagas had good relations, to fight against our very being. In the case of Naga- Burmese relations neither the Nagas nor the Burmese had any animosity towards one another and lived as good neighbours, considering that the Nagas had not been part of the Panglong Agreement of 1947 in Burma. But with the instigation by India under Indira Gandhi’s Prime Minister ship in the 1960s and 1970s Burma rose against the Eastern Nagas.
Sandwiched between two powerful nations, the Nagas had to seek outside help in which only China responded, while India blamed China of fomenting dissension as if the Nagas were part of India. Today, India has laid claim even on the so called Arunachal Pradesh based on the McMahon line inherited from the British who colonized them. Except for its illegitimate inheritance India has no legal, historical or cultural right to claim Arunachal Pradesh over which China has a more legitimate, historical and cultural right. Zhangnan, as it is called, in Chinese is the authentic name rather than the so-called Arunachal Pradesh which is a later creation from the erstwhile Northeast Frontier Agency (NEFA) when India had yet to give a name to Arunachal Pradesh.
The creation of Arunachal Pradesh by India is void ab initio, but India continues to occupy it and has deprived Nagaland of its traditional borders with China for which the Nagas of today has to lay claim on Anjaw which is occupied by India in their so-called Arunachal Pradesh. Aside from Anjaw, China and Nagaland recognizes Zhangnan as part of Chinaand Tirap, Changlang and Longding as part of Nagaland. Our traditional ties as neighbours are important as the saying goes, “a close neighbour is better than a brother who is far away”. If India and China, being the two larger countries, can lay claim on the whole of Arunachal Pradesh or Zhangnan our ownership over Anjaw is minuscule but justified by right and facts. This is just the tip of the iceberg as it is a mere revelation of our northern borders but Nagaland has been subdivided into many units under India’s military occupation in the west as well as the south.
Moreover, India has created militias in the form of factions of political groups to fight India’s proxy war, while inversely claiming themselves to be Naga nationalists, to loot and hunt down our own people thus exacerbating the Indo-Naga issue. Preposterously, placing these militias as political groups, factions and insurgents fighting to secede from the Indian union, India has now played another trick to overshadow the Indo-Naga issue by having so-called peace talks with these interlopers. These illegal militia groups have donned the sheep’s clothing masquerading as Naga nationalists and are willing to come to terms with India’s dictated negotiations, whereby, further compromising our demographic and geographic structure and also international boundaries, especially with China. The outcome of this circumstance will have pernicious impact on the already strained Indo-China relations. Nagaland should not be made to pay for the problems of her neighbours. To commensurate this transgression by India and her paid professional militias masquerading as Naga nationalists, China must recognize the legitimacy of the Independent Federal Republic of Nagaland.
The Nagas do not want to see our country turned into a battlefield, but our so-called largest democratic neighbour, India, has failed to honour our neighbourly relations by invading us. Today, US and India has the temerity to conduct military exercises near the sensitive Line of Actual Control (LAC) violating Sino-India agreements which does not bode well for our future as neighbouring nations as any Tom, Dick and Harry can pick a side to fight with. Are not these two nations professing to be democracies? Or are they witless, fearful war mongering tyrannies trying to provoke a war in the sensitive region? Peace must be the weapon and dialogue must be the ammunition and actions of peace must be shown in gentlemanly fashion. India as a democracy should, therefore, not trespass her agreements made with other countries nor should she occupy countries that were and are never part of her Union as is being done upon Nagaland. As long as India flexes her muscle upon China and illegally occupies Nagaland, her sincerity as a democracy and holding of the presidency of the G20 nations is highly questionable. Furthermore, India’s integrity is not competent enough in her bid for a permanent membership in the UN Security Council so long as she continues to occupy the sovereign nation of Nagaland and fails to solve her border issues with her neighbours. God forbid, if we as neighbours cannot see beyond our noses then the future does not bode well for us as our beloved and precious Nagaland may become a battlefield for our neighbours putting us in a dilemma to pick sides for our survival.
In spite of suffering the disadvantage of being occupied, we must forge ahead with our rightful claims lest we become mere collateral of countries playing geopolitics for their own benefits and to our peril. The Nagas have already suffered enough at the hands of our occupiers; the most recent being the Oting Killings where 14 of our beloved Konyak brothers who were hardworking productive Nagas, were mercilessly murdered at the hands of an elite unit of the army of the so called largest democracy (India) on the 4th of December, 2021. Nagaland has long been used as a training ground for the Indian army and our citizens mere targets for their practice. We cannot afford to digress from the issue at hand which is to survive and thrive as a nation that we are. As for the Myanmarese occupied territories of Nagaland, it must be made clear that the Nagas never partook in the Panglong Agreement of 1947 to be part of the Burmese Union. Hence, our territories are to be restored to us honourably as also India should, by the withdrawal of all occupational forces of both countries. While making our history and stand clear, and our claims and ownership put forth; we believe that the three nations surrounding Nagaland will have the wisdom and decency to take things into perspective to rectify past mistakes and to maintain peaceful neighbourly relations while honouring us as your friendly and audacious independent neighbour.
