The Naga imbroglio

Amitava Mukherjee

(Amitava Mukherjee is a senior journalist and commentator. He can be reached at amitavamukherjee253@gmail.com)

The most glaring shortcoming in the public dealings of R. N. Ravi, a former Intelligence Bureau chief and now the present Governor of Nagaland, is that he sometimes becomes too optimistic and often expresses his optimism in voluble words when he should have been cautious. This happened recently when he had told that negotiations over the major issues of the Naga insurgency were over and that only some 'symbolic issues' remain to be sorted out. However, the National Socialist Council of Nagalim(I-M) did not think so. It has charged Ravi with twisting of facts. "The Nagas will co-exist with India, sharing sovereign power as agreed in the Framework Agreement. The NSCN(I-M) had signed this agreement with the then Central government in 2015) …But they will not merge with India", ThuingalengMuivah, the 86 year-old-General Secretary of the NSCN(I-M) said on August 14 last which the Nagas celebrate as their 'own Independence Day'.

Each and every word of Muivah is important. So is the occasion of his speech. There is very little scope for accusing Muivah of any breach of faith as, according to widespread media reports the Framework Agreement of 2015 had agreed to "share sovereign power for an honourable solution". Obviously words of this agreement have turned out to be handy for the NSCN and that is why it is putting forth the theory of co-existence. "The Naga people have neither accepted the Union of India nor her constitution at any point of time. We will not accept them today and even in the days to come…Nevertheless we…must work out a common ground for a meeting point so that we may co-exist together as two entities," Muivah was blunt in his reply to Ravi's assessment.

The NSCN(I-M) has demanded R. N. Ravi's removal from the negotiation process. This is the most serious of all assertions from the insurgent group. It denotes that the NSCN is not sure about the seriousness of the government of India for finding a solution. The matter is thus pushed back to the square one as the NSCN has clearly stated that it is against trying to find any solution from within the ambit of the Indian Constitution. "We are not asking for Naga national flag and constitution from the Government of India. Recognise them or not, we have our own flag and constitution," Muivah has defiantly declared.

The message ThuingalengMuivah is trying to send across is clear- the NSCN is negotiating from a position of strength and it will not tolerate any skullduggery from the bureaucracy. Even if one concludes that all these tough talks by the NSCN are nothing but acts of one-upmanship yet it must be admitted that by keeping the Framework Agreement of 2015 a secret the Central government has not helped the matter much because the Nagas do not have any monolithic society and every Naga swears allegiance to his village and clan and an agreement with NSCN(I-M) only will not usher in peace. Ravi also knows it very well and that is why he has signed another peace agreement with the Naga National Political Group (NNPG), a conglomerate of seven other Naga political entities.

Will these two agreements bring peace in Nagaland? How much influence does Muivah really wield in the present Naga scenario? Has R.N. Ravi been able to bring the Khaplang faction of the NSCN in the peace negotiation process? It is difficult to answer these questions although peace in Nagaland depends on successful handling of these issues. Frankly speaking an agreement with the I-M faction only will mean very little. The NSCN(I-M) is basically an organization of the Tangkhul Nagas who enjoy numerical superiority and domination over four hill districts of Manipur namely Ukhrul, Senapati, Chandel and Tamenglong. Apart from the Tangkhuls its support base consists of the Sema and the Zeliang tribes also.

Although S.S. Khaplang is no more still his faction of the NSCN has not disintegrated and still wields considerable firepower in spite of the Myanmar army's recent raids in its headquarters in the Northern Sagaing Region of Burma. The Khaplang faction draws its sustenance from the Ao and Konyak tribes while the Naga National Council (NNC), still a force to reckon with, is the organization of the Angami and Chakesang tribes. Of all the sub-tribal groups mentioned above the Tangkhuls are the most educated and the Konyaks the least but at the same time the most ferocious. It is true that the Khaplang faction is numerically inferior and has experienced further splits when in 2011 Khole Konyak and Kitovi Zimomi, two front ranking leaders, broke away and formed the NSCN(K-K) group. In addition another small faction named NSCN (Reformation) had split from Khaplang in 1999. But all these factions are very much relevant in today's Naga society and as their tribal base remain the same and they are likely to come together in any war time situation.

Still R.N. Ravi is conversant with Naga realities and at his heart he is totally opposed to any agreement with the I-M faction only. On this question Ravi has his feet on the ground. It is true that the Myanmar-based NSCN (Khaplang) group, now led by Nyemlang Konyak, is still very much powerful in spite of several desertions mentioned above and unless Konyak is brought to the negotiating table peace may not return in Nagaland. Still there are rays of hope as the NSCN (Unification) and the NSCN (Reformation) are constituents of the NNPG and Zhimomi is the convener of its Working Committee.

Perhaps NSCN(I-M) is now wary of losing its prominence in the Naga scenario. Still it has to be kept in mind that the I-M faction is the largest of all the Naga insurgent groups and no comprehensive solution can be reached without its participation. Policy makers in New Delhi must understand that in the midst of a stand-off situation with China on the Himalayas peace in Nagaland is absolutely necessary as many Naga insurgent outfits are known to be enjoying good working relations with Beijing.