Kaka D. Iralu
The Naga people’s right to nationhood is not a right second or inferior to any other nation’s right to nationhood. Like any other nations in the world, Nagas have also evolved from within a distinct and concrete geographical land called Nagaland. Like any other nations on earth, the process of evolving from families into clans into tribes into a nation took place among the Nagas also over a long period of history. However their presence as a people and a nation was noted by historians even as early as AD 150 and AD 645 by persons like Claudius Ptolemy and Hiuen Tsang. Coming into modern history, their desire to become a modern nation State was declared by the Naga Club and the NNC in 1918 and 1946 respectively. Even prior to these declarations, Nagas have never been ruled by any foreign power but had independently ruled themselves through sovereign independent village republics. As such village republics, our forefathers had also jealously guarded our sovereign territories all down through the centuries. They defended our territories from neighboring kingdoms like the Meitei Kings, the Kachar Kings, the Tripuri Kings and later the Ahom Kings right from the 3rd century to the early part of the 19th century until the British entered our territories in 1832. We resisted even this mighty foreign British power for 115 years (1832-1947), until our lands were again invaded by India and Burma from 1947 to the present. Against these two invasions, as well as every other former invasion attempts, we have, till date, never surrendered our sovereign rights to nationhood.
Naga rights to nationhood are as unique and unquestionable as this. It is a right based on concrete geographical and historical facts. Here, any deviation from these political and historical facts of Naga national rights and Naga nationhood is a deviation from truth to falsehood.
Now, in the light of these political and historical facts, the present State of Nagaland which was created on December 1, 1963 through the 16 Point Agreement is not at all the foundation of Naga political rights or nationhood. This 16 Point Agreement can never be claimed as the bedrock of Naga society or the Foundation of Naga nationhood. Far from it, the 16 Point Agreement is a total departure and deviation from the truths of Naga history and nationhood. As such, the 16 Point Agreement is but a sell out of Naga history and heritage. It was but a vain attempt at trying to merge the Naga race and nation with that of some other races of the Indian sub-continent. Anthropologically and even genetically, this is an impossible experiment. On the part of the Indian representatives who signed the 16 Point Agreement, they should have flatly refused the Naga proposals because they too have their own unique histories which have never been a part of Naga history.
As for a brief history of the Naga people’s Convention (NPC) and the 16 Point Agreement, the sequence goes like this: As already outlined in detail in the Naga Saga from pages16-18, the Naga People’s Convention was conceived and formed by the Indian Intelligence Bureau under the initiative of S.M. Dutt. As admitted by Dutt, the convention was formed in order to nullify the Naga Plebiscite of 1951. Along the way, some well meaning Nagas also joined the NPC in the hope that the NPC can act as a mediator between the Government of India (GOI) and the Federal Government of Nagaland (FGN) in bringing peace back to war torn Nagaland. In line with their good intentions, a negotiating body was appointed to contact and negotiate with both the GOI and FGN for an amicable settlement of the Indo Naga conflict. But instead of consulting the FGN, the Negotiating Body themselves went ahead and signed the 16 Point Agreement with the Government of India and merged Nagaland into India as an Indian state. The 16 point Agreement is therefore an agreement signed in a foreign country without the Naga people’s consent or the consultation of the Federal Government of Nagaland.
The Federal and NNC authorities on their part, (After expressing their willingness to meet the NPC) wrote on April 4, 1960 thus: “…You (NPC) talk about and weary much for material progress, but it is worth noting that material progress can neither go far nor can it live long unless it has its foundation in moral principles and high ideals tempered with truth. But these indispensable conditions are found absolutely nil in the framework of the Naga People’s Convention. We are neither blind to reality nor are we prepared to yield to any challenge to Naga freedom from whatever front it may come.” (The above quoted words which were from a one paged document were signed by 8 members of the FGN and NNC. Copies of the document were sent to the Prime Minister of India, The Congress President, and the Governor of Assam etc).
In the light of all these historical facts, any additional agreements signed on the foundation of the 16 Point Agreement without the total consent of the Naga people and its mandated government will be an invalid agreement.
Here any Naga who would dare to sell Naga history and heritage to any other nations will incur the wrath and curse of all our forefathers as well as all the present and future generations of Nagas.
