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On 14 August 1947, the Naga Nation declared its independence from British colonial rule. On the following day, India declared its independence, including Nagaland within the territory it claimed the right to control. So began the struggle between the Nagas and the state of India for political, economic and social control of Nagaland. Since the mid-1950s, the conflict has been violent, sometimes genocidally violent, in the region claimed by India as its northeastern states. Recent clashes between Nagas and members of the (non-Naga) Kuki tribe have been characterized by the Indian press as "communal" or "inter-tribal" warfare, and necessitating the intervention of the Indian military. However, reports from regional groups, including the Naga Peoples' Movement for Human Rights, indicate that the clashes are evidence of a continuing Indian policy of military repression in the area.
The conflict between the Nagas and India ranks as one of the most persistent and least-known struggles of indigenous peoples in the world today. The Naga Nation, with a population of over 3 million, claims a traditional territory of some 37,000 square miles, straddling the official boundary of India and Myanmar (Burma), from just south of the Chinese border. Following the independence of India and Burma from British control in the late 1940s, Naga territory was divided between the two new states, without Naga consent, and ignoring the Nagas' own declaration of independence.
Under British colonial domination of the Indian sub-continent, Nagaland had never been conquered, although the British were successful in establishing an administrative district in southwest Nagaland. As the sub-continent moved toward decolonization, the Nagas made it clear that their aspiration was for a free and independent Nagaland, not linked with the Indian state. Britain agreed that Nagaland was to be considered an "excluded area" with regard to the formation of a decolonized India.
Naga aspirations were respected by the father of India, Mohandas Gandhi, who, although hoping that Nagaland would join India, declared that ". . . I do not believe in forced unions. If you (Nagas) do not wish to join the Union of India, nobody will force you to do that." Despite Gandhi's principled stand in support of Naga self-determination, his assassination in 1948 opened the door for a more repressive Indian policy in the region.
A Naga-inspired plebiscite in 1951 reiterated, by an affirmative vote of 99.9%, the Naga independence platform. Subsequent attempts by India to integrate Nagaland through elections and other administrative methods have been met with consistent Naga non-cooperation and boycotts. Attempts to extend India's first national general election into Nagaland in 1952 proved fruitless, with virtually no Naga votes cast.
By 1954, India had abandoned the relatively peaceful modus vivendi in Nagaland, and began military operations to effect the incorporation of the area into the state. According to the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN), between 1954 and 1964, over 150,000 lives were lost through armed conflict, torture, and other forms of political terror throughout Nagaland. This bloodletting went virtually unnoticed in the international community, in part because of the operation of a number of Indian laws, such as the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act of 1958, the National Security Act, and the Terrorists and Disruptive (Preventative) Act, which effectively closed off the region from the scrutiny of impartial, international observers. Even now, Nagaland and the adjoining state of Manipur (most of which lies within the traditional territory of Nagaland), are under restrictive policies that deny access to official international human rights observers.
After twenty years of armed struggle, a faction of the main Naga resistance organization, the Naga National Council (NNC), agreed through the "Shillong Accord" to lay down its arms and accept unconditionally the Indian Constitution. The Accord, signed on 11 November 1975, provoked immediate response within Nagaland, precipitating significant factionalization among the Naga organizations; those who signed were regarded as traitors. Nonetheless, Naga armed resistance to the Indian occupation continued. Springing from these divisions, the primary Naga resistance organiztion, NSCN-Muivah, was created and is now generally acknowledged as the most widely supported Naga political/resistance movement.
Since 1975, the Naga armed struggle has been led in different areas by one of the four main Naga groups: NSCN-Muivah (operating in India Nagaland and Manipur), NSCN-Khaplang (operating primarily in Burma Nagaland), NNC-Adinao and NNC-Khodao (both relatively small factions that have now largely abandoned armed struggle). The continuing Naga opposition to Indian rule has resulted in an enormous military response from the Indian state, with as many as 200,000 troops staged presently in the region. In addition to the Indian Army, a variety of police agencies, and Indian-supported militias have created a highly militarized condition throughout Nagaland. According to Naga groups, it is the collusion between the Indian armed forces and bands of armed Kukis that has led to increasingly brutal violence in the Manipuri region of Nagaland, over the past several months.
The Kukis historically were a nomadic people related to the Chin peoples who now are located in Burma and the Indian state of Mizoram. The British enlisted the support of the Kukis as mercenaries to fight the Naga resistance against British colonialism in the late 19th centruy. Many Nagas believe that the Indian government is using the Kukis in the same role today.
The current cycle of violence can be traced to clashes, in May 1992, in the town of Moreh, on the Burma-India border, where elements of the Kuki National Organization/Kuki National Army (KNO/KNA) began to impose taxes on the Naga residents and merchants of Moreh. Subsequent oppressive acts by the KNA led to the Naga abandonment or Kuki destruction of nine villages in and around Moreh. Eventually, either spontaneous Naga village self-defense or elements of the NSCN-Muivah responded to the KNA taxation, resulting in intense armed battles in the area. The president of the Kuki National Organization has admitted that the KNA has collaborated with the Indian Army, especially the 15th Assam Rifles Regiment, and that Kuki units have received arms and shelter from Indian Army camps in the region.
Fourth World Bulletin • April 1994
Copyright © 1996 by the Fourth World Center
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