India’s Government has signed a peace deal with a
leading Naga separatist group, bringing to an end one of the country’s oldest
insurgencies.
History of Naga insurgency
The Nagalim was proposed independent
country for Naga people. The first sign of Naga resistance was seen in the formation of Naga club in 1918, which
told the simon commission “to leave us alone to determine for ourselves as in
ancient times”. In 1946 came the Naga National Council. In the 1950s, the Naga
National council (NNC) led a violent unsuccessful insurgency against the
Government of India, demanding a separate country for the Nagas. The
secessionist violence decreased considerably after the formation of the Naga
majority Nagaland state, and the militants surrendered after the shilling
accord of 1975. However a section of Nagas, operating under the various
factions of ‘National Socialist Council of Nagaland’ continue to demand a
separate country which lack people’s support.
National
Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) was formed on 31 January 1980 by Isak
Chishi Swu, Thuingaleng Muivah & S.S. Khaplang opposing the Shilling Accord
signed by the then Naga National Council with the Government of India. On 30
April 1988, the NSCN split into two factions, the NSCN-K led by S S khaplang, and the NSCN-IM led by Isak Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng muivah. The split
was accompanied by a spate of violence and clashes between factions. The
objective of the NSCN was to establish a Sovereign State by unifying all the
Naga-inhabited areas in the North east of India and Northern Burma which the
organization and the people of area proposed as Nagalim. NSCN was active in
North East India.
Over the years, the NSCN has tried to develop
extensive linkages both within and outside India. It alleged that Pakistan and
China are providing finance as well as arms and ammunition to NSCN in their
fight against the Indian Government. It is believed that NSCN patronized
smaller extremist’s outfits in the North East of India by giving warfare and
intelligence trainings and providing logistics for waging war against India.
The Government in India’s north-eastern state of Tripura says it has evidence
that the state’s Baptist Church is involved in backing separatist’s rebels. China
was also instrumental in providing training and arms, which was established
after the arrest of top NSCN IM leader Anthony Shimray. After his arrest by the
Indian intelligence agencies he also revealed that he was tasked by Chinese
intelligence agencies to collect and gather intelligence on Indian troop
deployment in north eastern states of India.
On April 6, 2015 a new faction NSCN (Reformation) was formed. The
formation came after Wangtin Konyak, a senior minister and personal secretary
to Khaplang and Tikhak, the spokesperson of the outfit were expelled by
Khaplang after misunderstanding arose over recent abrogation of ceasefire with
the Government of India. The primary agenda of the new NSCN-R was to “develop a
sense of brotherhood among the Naga society.”
On
August 3, 2015 NSCN leader T Muivah signed
peace accord with the Government of India in presence of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, and NSA Ajit Doval. Prime Minister
Narendra Modi described the accord between his Government and the National
Socialist Council of Nagaland as “historic”. He said, “I have the deepest
admiration for great Naga people for their extraordinary support to the peace
efforts, our oldest insurgency is getting resolved, it is a signal to other
smaller groups to give up weapons.
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About
the Author:
Prakashmaan Singh is working
with department of posts under ministry of communication, India. He is a
fitness freak and bodybuilding is his passion. Through his articles he wants
to spread awareness and present his views on the topic so that exchange of thoughts
can take place.
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