Why the Naga accord is definitely not an accord by any measure

The accord between the Government of India and the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) is definitely not an accord by any measure; what has been announced, if anything at all, is only a statement of intent. Most of the ongoing discourse has either bordered on “whataboutery” or been academic speculation. Neither is off the mark, and yet neither is fair. For, the history of Naga insurrection is a history of failed accords, one of repeated acts of treachery and skulduggery by the Indian government, and a brutal saga of Nagas being killed by Nagas. 

It is not without reason that many have cynically wondered if this is “yet another accord”. The first accord in Naga history, in fact predates Indian Independence. On June 27, 1947, the Dominion Government of India and the Naga National Council (NNC) established the previous year to lobby for political sovereignty, signed a Nine-Point Agreement. The understanding was that the Naga Hills would exist under India for a period of 10 years, after which NNC could renew the agreement.

The 10-year-clause was seen by the NNC as the unfettered right to declare Independence after 10 years, but the Nagas soon realised that this was an exercise in legerdemain. The Hydari Agreement, as this document came to be known named after Akbar Hydari, the Governor of Assam, has been seen by Nagas as the first act of treachery. There were differences in the text of the agreement that was retained by the two parties. NNC leader Angami Zapu Phizo understood that the Indians had no intention of honouring it, and Nagas declared Independence from the British on August 14, 1947.

Yet, it took time for the political movement to turn militant in its means. India’s scoffing at the plebiscite that was organised by the NNC, with 99.9 per cent apparently voting for Independence from India, and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s walking away from a public meeting in the early 1950s, contributed to the alienation of the Nagas. After the NNC went insurgent, India reacted by enacting the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in 1958. The AFSPA had only one intention: to rein in Naga insurgency. The atrocities that were heaped on the Naga peoples was untold, unpardonable.

India’s brazen acts of subversion continued — it did to the Nagas what the British did with India: divide and rule. After the first general elections were boycotted in the Naga Hills district of Assam in 1952, India adopted a two-pronged approach. The first was to grant the Indian Army the sanction to kill with impunity, under the guise of AFSPA; the second was to prop up a overground establishment to counter the underground. The second came a year before AFSPA, with the first Naga People’s Convention (NPC) in 1957. Once Phizo fled the Naga Hills, it became easier for India to keep at its political game plan. Starting with the 16-Point Agreement with the NPC in 1960, a series of political machinations ended with Nagaland being granted complete statehood on December 1, 1963.

The first major division among the Naga undergrounds happened in the Sixties. First, the Peace Mission of British priest-activist Rev Michael Scott, former Assam Chief Minister Bimala Prasad Chaliha and socialist leader Jaiprakash Narayan failed on a rapprochement. It was evident that it was India that was insincere, even as talks with rebels began in right earnest. Incidentally, among those negotiating with India was a suave young man by the name of Isak Chishi Swu, now NSCN(I-M) leader. The talks eventually fell apart. It was also around this time that a group that included a bright young Thuingaleng Muivah headed for China in the quest for political and military support. 

But none of these did so much to the Naga movement as was done by a group of Semas led by Kaito Sema and Kuhgato Sukhrai. This group, irked by the stranglehold that the Angamis had over the NNC rank and file, carried out raids and bombings both on establishments and individuals. The rift widened till Sema was gunned down in 1968. Thereafter, militant activities became a trickle.  

The group of Semas, calling themselves the Revolutionary Government of Nagaland (as opposed to the Federal Government of Nagaland, the political wing of the NNC), surrendered in 1973. Its leader Scato Swo went on to become a Congress leader. Then came the abject surrender — by a group of NNC leaders who signed the infamous Shillong Accord on November 11, 1975. The group, which did not have the sanction of Phizo, gave up its sovereignty demand and agreed to surrender arms. 

The Shillong Accord was rejected as a “sellout” by Swu, Muivah and SS Khaplang who formed the National Socialist Council of Nagaland in 1980. The first two fell apart with the latter in 1988, when Khaplang ran riot and killed over 200 of the former’s men. The truth over the discord still remains uncertain, but there was reasonable ground to believe that serious disagreements had surfaced over talks with India. Each accused the other of working hand-in-glove with the Indian government. The seeds of suspicion, many quarters still believe, were sown by the Indian government.

The NSCN(I-M) peaked in the Nineties. It was an insurgent organisation like no other: its leaders were educated and sophisticated intellectuals, its armed wing was deadly and dreaded. It was, therefore, no surprise that after it entered into a cessation of hostilities agreement with the Indian government in 1997, political insurgency in the entire North-East gradually began to fade away. What remained were ragtag criminal gangs (barring a couple of exceptions). 

It is important to acknowledge that the NSCN(I-M) did not engage in talks because they had been pushed into a corner. They did so when the NSCN(I-M) was at its peak; they did so because they realised the futility of an unending war. Both Swu and Muivah are pragmatic, and they have tried to replicate the South African experience of reconciliation. 

Whether the framework agreement will succeed or whether the Nagas will be betrayed again remains to be seen. But, what is certain is that the Nagas, even if their society today is fractured and scarred, will never stop saying “kuknalim”(glory to our land).

The author is a Bangalore-based journalist and researcher