Let the bloodshed end

Let the fur fly, angry words be exchanged, emotions run high. Yet, words, however hurtful or disagreeable, are better than firing bullets, laying ambushes and creating fear and tension. Let the debate begin

Sanjoy Hazarika Guwahati

There are two moving memorials in Kohima and Khonoma in Nagaland that evoke a history of defiance and bravery. The first is well-known and lies at the foot of the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in the state capital Kohima, built along the tennis courts of the deputy commissioner's bungalow where the Japanese forces in World War II were slowed, stalled and then pushed back by a band of determined British and Indian troops. The words on the high marble slab over the busy intersection in Kohima are a strong reminder of the lives lost in this and countless other battles, on many fronts across the world:

“When you go home Tell all of us and say For your tomorrow We gave our today”

An hour's run from Kohima is the village of Khonoma, flanked by dappled, forested hillsides and terraced rice fields. A great stone church dominates the village, clinging onto one hilltop while other houses are built in a sprawl of wood, stone and cement, and run up and down the other slopes.  Khonoma is about 400 years old and is a major symbol of power and resistance for the Nagas — both against the British and the Indian Army.

It is the home of the late Angami Zapu Phizo, who mobilised the Naga National Council and led the Federal Government of Nagaland (FGN), in its bitter armed campaign against New Delhi, asserting that the Nagas were not and would never be 'Indians'.  And it was a Khonoma resident who is said to have walked to a telegraph office on August 14, 1947 in Kohima and sent a message out to the fledgling United Nations that the Nagas had declared Independence. This story, whether partly or wholly true, has found itself into Naga lore.

It is a village that suffered at the hands of the British and the Indian army: both destroyed it at least once for its defiance. In the square, as one enters, is a simple stone block, painted in the blue and white 'national' colours of the Naga National Council (this flag of Naga independence is accepted by other rival armed groups) with the names of 56 men who died fighting Indian troops. It praises the “heroes who died so that we may be free”.

This is an extraordinary monument simply because it still exists. Where else can one find a greater tribute to co-existence and democracy — where the larger group accepts the right of the smaller to pledge defiance?

The negotiations that the government of India has been conducting for over 10 years with the main Naga militant group, the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN) of Isak Swu and Th Muivah (I-M), needs to be seen in this spirit of mutual acceptance. India has a ceasefire but no negotiations with the other major Naga group led by SS Khaplang.

There is another aspect to Khonoma that needs to be taken note of: A reconciliation has taken place between two major clans, divided for decades over a killing. This division lasted over 40 years but finally, after years of dialogue and discussions, one elder took responsibility for the tragedy, apologised to the other family and called for healing. The apology was accepted and an old bitterness was finally buried.

It is this kind of reconciliation — at the individual, community, tribal and political level — that is crucial if political agreements at a higher level are to take place and bear fruit. Such a healing touch can cement the foundation of good politics and strong negotiations, although it cannot replace the latter.

This action is relevant to the current situation; it takes great courage to put the past behind and accept one's mistake. It should be noted that the acute differences between Muivah's group and that of Khaplang grew out of mutual suspicions followed by a bloody assault on a remote camp in Myanmar housing Muivah's fighters by Khaplang's followers.

The journey to Somdel, a village in Ukhrul district, dominated by the Tangkhul Nagas, was one that I had long wanted to make. The Tangkhuls are one of the most prominent and educated of the Naga tribes, in Manipur and outside of it. They have provided some of the best organisers and fighters of the Naga battle for separation from India. Somdel is to the Nagas of Manipur what Khonoma is to their people in neighbouring Nagaland: the home of their most influential leader, Thiuengelang Muivah, general secretary of the NSCN (I-M).

Muivah lived abroad for nearly 38 years, since he led the equivalent of the Long March to China, along with General Thinsolie, over jungles and mountains through Myanmar into Yunnan Province in 1966 and established contact and gained support from the Chinese. That official backing ended in 1976. When I visited Somdel a few years ago, I thought it was these mountain tracks that must have prepared Muivah for his legendary treks: there was no road, just a hill track on which no bus or truck could travel, barring the one village jeep and the occasional army and police patrol.

Often, as one travels in such isolated parts of the Northeast, one realises that what the Nagas and other groups have is de facto separation. What they want is a legalised adaptation of that reality: a de jure acceptance.

If there has to be movement forward, out of the current log jam, the government of India must call joint consultations with the chief ministers and top officials of the neighbouring states of Nagaland as well to brief them on the progress of the talks with the NSCN and seek their views. Such an exercise will make consultations more transparent. But in a democracy, there's always an election around the corner! Nagaland is headed for one next year. In 2008, there will be elections to Parliament. And which government or political party is prepared to take decisions that could have repercussions on its electoral prospects?

So the talks will meander on, partly because it is difficult for the NSCN (I-M) to pull out. This suits New Delhi because no party to the talks can be seen as anti-peace.

The core of the discussions among representatives of the Centre and the NSCN revolves around three issues related to the Constitution: what is acceptable to both, what is not and what needs change. These are questions that are unlikely to be concluded in any haste.

Yet, although troops on either side are not confronting each other, the situation in Nagaland is still fraught with danger: the major rival groups, NSCN (I-M) and the NSCN (K) allied to the FGN cadres have been engaging each other in furious gunfights in district headquarters, smaller towns and elsewhere, creating panic and deep concern. Manipur is a case apart: the Nagas and Kukis have carved out spheres of influences for themselves in the hills ringing the Imphal Valley. The Meitei armed groups are influential in the valley in a state that is in an internal collapse.

In Nagaland, the state government appears unable or unwilling to do anything on the issue, saying that it is a 'political' problem and not one of law and order. Nothing could be more farcical, especially as the I-M leaders and New Delhi square off to begin a fresh round of talks in the capital.

Take the riot that erupted in the Tangkhul colony in Dimapur, the largest town in Nagaland, a few weeks ago. Hundreds of homes belonging to members of this tribe were gutted after a series of incidents involving high-handedness of I-M cadres and Tangkhul youth. No Tangkhul was physically harmed but the homes of top leaders of the I-M were razed. That was an outburst of anger, which had been building up for a long time, and it should be noted that the I-M leadership of Muivah and Swu were at their Hebron Camp, not far from Dimapur, at the time.

Ironically, 10 years of negotiations with the Centre have seen a sharpening of the divide among Nagas, especially on ethnic and loyalist lines. The Church tries to reduce tension but finds itself rebu-ffed by both sides, each unwilling to trust the other.

The negotiations at some point take on an air of unreality when we hear discussions about a federal relationship between the Nagas and the Centre. This is a fine concept and some media pundits and scholars have enthusiastically applauded such a move. A relationship between the Nagas and the Centre cannot be seen independently of the relations between the Centre and other parts of the country. Of course, all states of the Union may be allowed to fly their own flag and sing their own state anthem, but is the Centre prepared to shed its enormous control to just running defence, finance, communications and foreign affairs? I doubt it: I am all for out-of-the-box thinking but there should be a practical understanding of the Centre's interest on this.

One example should suffice: the Centre is determined not to act on the recommendations of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act Review Committee that proposed the repeal of this obnoxious law in June 2005. How far can it go with the Nagas who are demanding not just parity but a separate entity that includes parts carved out of three neighbouring states? (The central government has not even made the AFSPA Review report public but it is in the public domain because The Hindu placed it on its website in October 2006).

What was once a bilateral issue has, by dint of several factors too complex to go into here, become an internal matter of India. And that is angering other factions and an older generation who have seen many Naga 'national workers', as the armed and political cadres are called, die for the cause.

The NSCN (I-M) is not negotiating for the Naga right to sovereignty, although this has been at the heart of the struggle. Leaders of the I-M have proclaimed that even the US is not truly sovereign in a changing world.

I had once described the NSCN as the 'mother of all insurgencies'; but it no longer controls the others. There are collaborations and contacts but the groups in Assam and Tripura, and of course Manipur, plough their own furrows.

The principal stakeholders in the Naga peace process include Naga neighbours: Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh. Such a consultation can lead to a broadening of the process and can be an appropriate way to move ahead. New Delhi is not a real neighbour of the Nagas.

There is another aspect to the Naga and Northeast story. It is not insignificant that thousands of young Nagas, Mizos, Manipuris and Assamese are making another long trek — to better educational institutions in different parts of the country and even abroad, which lead to improved incomes and professions. Their worldview is changing and although convictions about their past run deep, there is lack of certainty about the future.

Let the fur fly, let angry words be exchanged, let emotions run high. Yet, words, however hurtful or disagreeable, are better than firing bullets, laying ambushes and creating fear and tension. Let the debates begin, let the bloodshed end.

The writer is a journalist and commentator based in Delhi