This is the first part of a two-part series on Naga Independence Day, its relevance, the challenges, and the path ahead. In the first part, Medolenuo Ambrocia tackles a question few dare to ask: Does it make sense to celebrate independence when you are not independent?
Kohima: As India celebrates its 78th Independence Day with a wave of patriotism sweeping across the nation, the Naga communities in Nagaland and Manipur marked a different yet significant event—the Naga Independence Day.
There was a time when Naga Independence Day was observed quietly, mainly out of fear of aggressive actions by Indian forces. However, over the years, the Naga flag has come to be widely displayed across the Naga ‘homeland.’
From solemn commemorations at local hotspots like Pulie Badze to grand celebrations at the Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC) convention hall, as well as celebrations at designated camps of various Naga political groups and even local football events, the observance of Naga Independence Day on August 14 saw mass participation.
While the significance of this day is deeply rooted in the Naga struggle for sovereignty, understanding its full meaning can be challenging for those unfamiliar with the Naga political issue. Even among the Nagas in Nagaland and the Southern Nagas in Manipur, especially the younger generation, interpretations of the issue can vary.
Are Nagas independent?
Every year on August 15, Indian Independence Day is celebrated across the nation this day holds profound significance as it marks the end of over two centuries of British colonial rule in 1947. Nagaland became the 16th state of the Indian Union on December 1, 1963.
However, on the eve of India’s Independence Day, Nagaland residents commemorate Naga Independence Day. This raises the question: How are these celebrations validated?
According to retired professor and peace activist, Dr Rosemary Dzüvichü, Nagas believe they are free people and deserve to be free. “The reality is confronting the ongoing peace negotiations, the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act. In the face of so much controversy, questions arise as to why we celebrate Naga Independence Day. The main reason for the celebration is also a day to commemorate all the lives lost- the patriots who sacrificed their lives. I see it as a day where we can dedicate ourselves that we will be more proactive in our national cause and struggle, and also take it as a day to reiterate that Nagas are free, independent, and different from the mainland,” she said.
Dzüvichü urged the need to deliberate on the history of the Naga struggle, the present situation and what can be the future that Nagas can envision. The celebration, she said, is also a time to gather solidarity among the Naga people to raise their voices against the draconian AFSPA.
NSCN-IM Ato Kilonser (Prime Minister) Th Muivah, on the occasion of the commemoration of the 78th Naga Independence Day at Camp Hebron, said, “78 years down the lane we have not lost the courage and spirit of freedom that had not waned. We have kept pace with the spirit of the 1997 ceasefire to find a lasting Naga political solution.”
He narrated that the history was created when the Naga Independence Day was declared on August 14, 1947, making it a proud moment for the Nagas to assert their rights as a nation to be among the comity of independent nations.
Muivah said that this declaration was “duly acknowledged” by the United Nations (UN) which was also informed to the Government of India (GoI), and the King of England, George VI as well.
“We did not fail to do the right thing per the spirit of the UN Charter of Human Rights that recognising that the peoples of the world ardently desire the end of colonialism in all its manifestations,” he said.
Muivah said that keeping with the spirit of the UN Charter with sovereign equality of states, it was cabled to the Secretary General of the United Nations that read: “Benign Excellency, Kindly put on record that Nagas will be independent. Discussions with India are being carried on to that effect. Nagas do not accept the Indian Constitution. The right of the people must prevail regardless of size.”
In the pursuit of freedom, Muivah said that Nagas have not faulted in any manner that contravenes international law as it has been placed on record. Nagas, he added, has been a sovereign nation since time immemorial and its great freedom fighters awakened themselves as a people and as a nation to stand up for their rights and assert their independence through non-violent resistance and civil disobedience movement.
At the Naga National Council/Federal Government of Nagaland (NNC/FGN) observation of the day at Pulie Badze, Jotsoma village, the president, Gen (Retd) Thinoselie M Keyho’s message stated that the question of demanding Independence from India does not arise.
“There should not be any difficulty for the Naga people to understand the simple language that Nagas are not Indians, and Nagaland is not part of India. Because of this stand, many patriots have shed their blood in the course of our long struggle to defend our birthright,” the Naga national worker said.
To him, the question of demanding independence from India, accepting the Constitution of India, and so on, are ‘only wild expressions manufactured by the Indian propaganda machine to confuse the people’.
He acknowledged that although 77 years have elapsed since the declaration of Naga Independence on 14th August 1947, there is still no light at the other end of the tunnel for its solution.
Forceful occupation
The NNC’s version of this Indo-Naga problem is considered a forceful occupation of the Naga motherland by the Indians. “This is an act of pure aggression on the part of India,” NNC president Thinoselie said.
To him, when the British left this part of the globe, India, disregarding all norms of democracy, had thrown their administrative net to cover all the areas previously covered by the British Government.
“It was most unfortunate that Indian people at that particular period could not understand the Gandhian philosophy of non-violence and, therefore, starting from the latter part of 1954, the Government of India started sending their army into Nagaland which kept on increasing year by year. They sent their army into Nagaland and their army behaved in the most barbaric manner to torture and kill thousands of Naga people,” he narrated.
The Naga Odyssey
Human rights activist Neingulo Krome opined that the Nagas’ struggle for freedom is closely associated with indescribable stories of human suffering, death and destruction, unknown and isolated to the outside world and even to its neighbours, just because the Naga people wanted to remain as they always were.
“This period has seen extraordinary pain and agony in human history when entire Naga villages were burnt to ashes repeatedly from a minimum of three times to about 18 times in two years or so and people had to live in the jungles like animals. There are no official records of how many casualties Nagas suffered. But there is not a single Naga family who has not suffered loss, either by death, torture, arrest or maimed for life. Every family has a story to tell. Some of the most common forms of repression that the Indian army used on the innocent Naga civil population are Electric shocks, Execution in public, Mass raping, deforming sex organs, mutilating limbs and bodies, puncturing eyes, hanging people upside-down, putting people in smoke-filled rooms, concentration camps, forced starvation and labour, etc,” the human rights activist narrated.
He said that it was during this period when the Nagas witnessed some so-called agreements, on which the Government of India either back-tracked or never implemented in letter and spirit.
The first instance of the GoI’s Back-tracking, he said, was the 9-Point agreement of 1947 even before any political conflict or confrontations began, which was followed by the imposition of the present State of Nagaland in 1963, through a 16-Point memorandum.
The first Indo-Naga Ceasefire was signed in 1964 but political negotiations ended up in a deadlock after six rounds of talks in October 1967. This first ceasefire was ‘unilaterally’ abrogated by the Government of India on August 31, 1972, and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act was declared. When the first ceasefire was signed in 1964, there was no other group or party.
“The Government of India then unleashed terror and hunted down all national workers to kill, torture and arrest in whatever way possible and ultimately coerced some of the key leaders to sign the Shillong Accord Of November 11, 1975. This was an attempt of the Government of India to crush and destroy the Naga national movement for once and all, but which failed miserably,” he observed.
According to the activists, the signing of the Shillong Accord in 1976 almost wiped off the Naga movement. This accord, he said, divided the Nagas into two- pro-Shillong Accord and anti-Shillong Accord groups.
This situation created the emergence of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) in January 1980 as Isak Chishi Swu, Th Muivah, and SS Khaplang broke away from the NNC. After Khaplang formed a splinter group in 1988 known as the NSCN-K, the NSCN-led Isak-Muivah came to be known as NSCN-IM.
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As the NSCN-IM lobbied on international platforms, he said that they were received with positive reciprocations, and Nagas began to receive international support and solidarity, including from those in the United Nations and similar world body mechanisms.
“This was also one important factor which prompted the Government of India to start searching and inviting the leadership of the NSCN-IM, who were in foreign countries at that time, to negotiate for cessation of armed confrontation and to talk peace which came into effect from August 1, 1997 that ushered in the 2nd Indo-Naga Ceasefire and have been continuing till date,” he said.
Also Read | Nagas once voted for a separate nation: But is the plebiscite dream dead now?
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