The Nagas live in Nagalim which literally means “land of the Nagas”. It is mostly a mountainous region with some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. The area’s natural beauty is reflected in their cultural folklore and traditions. There are no officially recognised borders in Nagalim because the Nagas have never had a state of their own. Nagalim is strategically located in between South Asia and South East Asian region. Nagas live in the Indian states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland and Burmese state of Kachin and Sagaing sub-division. The population of 4 millions or more are spread out in several thousands villages over 120, 000 sq km land area which is a little larger than the size of South Korea.
The rise of ethnic consciousness and the political demands of many minority or ethnic groups for self-determination have run against the perceived interests of the existing states. History indicates that ethno-nationalism demonstrates politicisation of an identity coincides with the formation of the modern nation state system. Further, the end of Cold War and the process of globalisation unleashed new forces in people groups like the Nagas who were the victim of colonialism. In fact, Nagas are a people without their sovereign power over the territory in which they live.
Ethnic problems like the Nagas’ are not only an internal but also an international problem in several senses. They are divided across international borders (without their consent by the colonial powers) like many other communities of the world: Kashmiri, Punjabis, Palestinians, Baluch, and the Kurds etc. Specifically ‘Nagas’ aspirations and nationalism appear to be strengthening slowly and are likely to affect the future development of other neighbouring states in significant ways. The aspirations of a people in one country thus will directly affect the aspirations and actions of the minority within or across the border. Any pretension to ethnic unification of one of these peoples therefore, does not imply separation of territory from one country but also require a massive redrawing of the national and international boundaries. As a result of this challenge, regional states may cooperate to ensure that cross-boundary ethnic groups are unable to exercise any resurgent nationalism or separatism.
There are certain drawbacks in the process of the Nagas’ fight for self-determination. Nagas struggle for independence reached its zenith during A.Z Phizo. Unfortunately, the 16- Points Agreement with the government of India and creation of the present Nagaland state had shattered the dream of the Nagas. In fact, this has created antagonism amongst the Nagas. Had they not signed the Agreement, Nagas status could have been in different level by now. Since then, many promising Naga leaders were hypnotised by the Indian political system. The Nagas’ political struggle is not in accord with the theories of national liberation movements. The Naga national movements have lacked peoples’ solidarity and have been dominated by tribal and parochial values. Gradually the fragmented traditionalistic political culture and tribalism has constituted the core of the Nagas forces. As a result the internecine factional clash continues unabated. In this context, the slogan ‘Nagaland for Christ’ does not seem to be justified.
For decades Nagas have suffered brutally and faced systematic assaults from the hands of Indian and Burmese military forces. Nevertheless, the Naga issue continues to stand with its own uniqueness. The Indo-Naga peace process which came into effect in 1997 has not yielded much rather it has been delayed. The delaying tactics played by government of India in the peace process is only to suppress and invalidate the political movement. Therefore, Nagas need to re-think and work out different strategies for solving the problems. It is essential for the Nagas to establish more diplomatic relations with other countries and mobilise to gain international attention. However unless Nagas are united, the struggle for self-determination will not yield even an iota. The sacrifice made by our forefathers and the dreams that they had for the Nagas will remain only as a hypothesis. Once again let us reason and re-think together. Are the Nagas deserved to be call as ‘People without a Country’?
Kuknalim!
Lungthui Yang Riamei
Research Scholar
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
Email: loongryamei@gmail.com
