The NSCN (K) areas of influence are in parts of Mokokchung district and Tuensang. It also has a government-in-exile and its headquarters is located in Myanmar. There are frequent raids and killings by both sides to extend their areas of influence. Elimination of rivals and betrayals has marked the course of events since the split.
Admission to the UNPO
The cause of NSCN (IM) received a boost after it was admitted to the UNPO, which is a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) based in Hague and has nothing to do with the United Nations Organisation. Muivah has been attending the meetings of UNPO. He had also attended a UN Human Rights Committee session in Geneva in 1993 under a pseudonym. NSCN (IM) admission to UNPO has enabled it to open offices in a number of countries in South East Asia, Europe and North America.38
Drift in Naga Movement
Naga underground are now divided into three main groups: NSCN (IM), NSCN (K) and NNC. NNC still survives in Angami area but has split into two factions; NNC (A) under Phizo’s daughter Adino and NNC (K) under Khadao Yanthan. Muivah group enjoys influence among Thangkhuls, Semas and Phoms in Zunheboto, Wokha, Ukhrul, Dimapur and Kohima, whereas Khaplang group among Konyaks and Aos in Tuensang, Mokokchung and Mon. In Angami and Chakesang areas the legacy of Phizo still lingers.
NSCNs contention is that carrying of arms is permitted, except inside the prescribed areas. This interpretation is obviously illogical. No movement of arms was permitted outside the prescribed area.
The character of Naga insurgency has undergone sea change over the years. What was predominantly a rural guerrilla movement is now mainly confined to towns and urban centres like Dimapur, Kohima and Mokokchung. The commitment to the cause, which illuminated the movement in the fifties and sixties, is now absent. Today, militancy is a way to make easy money. Extortion, kidnapping and killings of innocent civilians have replaced the guerrilla warfare. A nexus of corrupt officials, ministers and contractors siphon off funds for development. They in turn finance militants belonging to different factions. It is a vicious circle.
The situation has turned worse by trafficking in drugs and gunrunning. Insurgency provides an ideal cover for such operations. Baptist Pastor Rev Nu laments “there is not a single MLA in 60 member assembly without links with Muivah or Khaplang faction.”
A Fresh Peace Initiative
People of Nagaland are disillusioned and are fed up with violence and bloodshed. Fifty years of strife has taken its toll. It is this realisation that, perhaps, prompted NSCN (IM) to agree to a cease-fire and political negotiation with the Union Government. Talks began in February 1997 followed by a cease-fire agreement, which was first signed on August 1, 1997 and has been in force since then. Several rounds of talks have taken place, first with Swaraj Kaushal as the official interlocutor and subsequently with K Padmanabhaiah.
The Naga delegation had laid down three conditions before talks could start: firstly, it shall be without any pre-condition; secondly, the talks shall be at the highest level; and thirdly, the venue shall be outside India. Three rounds of talks have taken place outside India since 1997. A cease-fire-monitoring cell was established at Dimapur, which had representatives of the centre, the security forces and the NSCN (IM). Despite differences in the interpretation of the provisions of the agreement, the cease-fire has held on. Some major differences are listed below:-39
- NSCN contends that the use of force was unauthorised only against the security forces, while the army’s contention is that it includes everyone including civilians.
- NSCN’s contention is that carrying of arms is permitted, except inside the prescribed areas. This interpretation is obviously illogical. No movement of arms was permitted outside the prescribed area.
- NSCN considers collection of taxes as legitimate on the plea that it is the Government, a formulation that no government can accept.
- Indian laws are not applicable to the underground, which obviously cannot be accepted by the Government.
According to Lt Gen Narahari40, who visited Nagaland in 2000, the security forces insisted and enforced, as much as they could, the rule regarding carrying of weapons outside the prescribed area. The villagers whom he met during his visit confirmed that extortion and tax collection by the underground was going on.During the talks in Amsterdam in July 2002, Isak and Muivah agreed to come to India to hold talks with the Indian leaders. To facilitate their arrival they were promised safe passage and the Government of Nagaland withdrew arrest warrants against them. So far, the talks have made little progress. During the talks held in New Delhi in January 2003, Muivah and Isak Swu made a significant statement and said that insurgency in Nagaland has come to an end and vowed to stop the campaign of guns. (Promise of Peace, Frontline, January 31, 2003) But subsequently, as the talks faltered on the question of Greater Nagaland, Muivah was ambivalent and in the ‘Walk the Talk’ interview with Shekhar Gupta in June 2005, he was not very sure if the cease-fire would continue to hold. (Indian Express, June 21, 2005)
Click to buy: Lost Opportunities
In April 2000, NSCN (K) announced a formal cease-fire with the Indian Government, which resulted in a meeting between the two sides in September 2001. During the meeting of the Cease-fire Supervisory Board on February 19, 2002, the Khaplang faction agreed to shift its cadres to designated camps.
In May 2001, Myanmar launched a massive combing operation against NSCN (K) on their side of Naga Hills to flush them out. Many were injured in the firing between the two sides in Konyak region along the Indo-Myanmar border.
There is a view in the security forces that the cease-fire has given the insurgents a breather to enlarge their influence in the North-east. Despite the cease-fire both factions of NSCN have been indulging in extortion, levying taxes and killings. It has been reported that Muivah had visited Pakistan in January 2000, raising doubts about his continuing links with the ISI. It has links with almost all militant groups in North-east India. It has links with Hynnilwtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) and A’chik National Volunteer Council (ANVC) of Meghalaya, National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT), A’chik Liberation Matgrik Army in the Garo Hills and Hmar People’s Convention in Mizoram.
NSCN (IM) made a real breakthrough in extending its area of operation by gaining a foothold in the Imphal Valley. The Meiteis and Nagas have never had very friendly relations. So, when Namoijam Oken Singh left UNLF and formed Kangli Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL), the NSCM (IM) promptly gave support and arms to this group and thus got a foothold in the crucial Imphal Valley. The extended linkages of NSCN (IM) with the insurgent groups in all the states of the North-east are extremely profitable for them. The small splinter groups have no ideology; they are in business of insurgency only for extortion, the major share of the extortion goes in the kitty of NSCN (IM). The organisation is also believed to have contacts with the LTTE of Sri Lanka and People’s War Group in Andhra Pradesh. It has established network of contacts for arms procurement in Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh and other South East Asian countries.
NSCN (K) faction has an equally wide area of influence and is believed to enjoy the support of the former Chief Minister, SC Jamir. The organisation has been engaged in fratricidal feud with Muivah faction, which considers it as traitor. It has bases in Myanmar, Bangladesh and Bhutan. In May 2001, Myanmar launched a massive combing operation against NSCN (K) on their side of Naga Hills to flush them out. Many were injured in the firing between the two sides in Konyak region along the Indo-Myanmar border.
Demand for Greater Nagaland
The success of the current initiative hinges on the response to Naga’s demand for the creation of Greater Nagaland comprising the present Nagaland and Naga inhabited areas of the neighbouring states of Assam, Manipur and Arunachal and in Myanmar. Whether the proposed Greater Nagaland will be an independent entity or part of the Indian Union has not been spelt out clearly by the NSCN. The demand has, nonetheless, raised the hackles of Manipuris, who fear that the Centre may agree to carve a Southern Nagaland comprising the Naga inhabited districts of Senapati, Ukhrul, Chandel and Tamenglong in order to appease the Nagas. Their fear is rooted in the unanimous resolution passed in the Nagaland Assembly in 1994, which favoured the establishment of Greater Nagaland.
Whether the proposed Greater Nagaland will be an independent entity or part of the Indian Union has not been spelt out clearly by the NSCN.
Manipuri suspicion was reinforced when in 2002, the cease-fire with Naga militants was extended without territorial limits; earlier extensions were only within the territorial limits of Nagaland. The announcement was a grievous blunder. It caused widespread resentment and shock amongst Meiteis cutting across all barriers. The anger of the people turned violent and for days Imphal was literally burning, forcing the government to withdraw Manipur from the ambit of cease-fire.
Appraisal
The Nagas remained isolated during 600 years rule of Ahom kings in Assam. The isolation continued even after the British annexation of Assam, which resulted from the Treaty of Yandeboo in 1826. The British devised the policy of ‘Excluded Areas’ to keep the tribes of the North-east isolated from the plains, primarily to prevent raids in the plantations.
The Nagas were first exposed to the outside world during the World War I when they were recruited in the labour corps for service in France. The World War II and particularly the Battle of Kohima were to have a profound effect on the psyche of Nagas. They were exposed to the war as a frontline state and became aware of the nationalist movements that were sweeping across most of South and South-east Asia.
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