The story of Master and Followers: the case of Indian State Ever since the incident of yesterday, 30 August 2014 that led to the killing of two protesters and injuring scores of other protesters who were participating in a peaceful protest rally against the illegal promulgation of Sec. 144 CrPC and militarization by deploying large number of State notorious Commandos and IRBs (Indian Reserve Battalion) in Ukhrul town for more than one month (since 13 July 2013), I have been thinking; why Nagas have to go through like this kind of situation again and again? What could be the reason behind? How can avoid a situation like yesterday? What is the option available to avoid such unwanted situation to happen again? What is the best way a youth like me can contribute in finding a resolution to this long drawn conflict between the State government and the Nagas whose areas/territories are falling within the Manipur State administration? Thinking of all these can be very frustrating but the hope of a better future and in humanity let the spirit of fighting move on. As I was thinking some of the above questions in my mind, there was a reflection of pre-independent history of India. During the time of British rule in India the same strategy which is currently used against the Nagas can be said to have been adopted by the Britishers to rule India. One classic example would be how Administrative Units were carve out or arranged. The one best example is Bengal province. In this huge Bangali speaking province there were relatively smaller non-Bangali speaking group namely Behari and Oriya speaking community. The British Empire knowingly clubbed these two communities within the Bangal province despite of their resentment. The main reason was divide and rule policy. The second was when there was a strong political consciousness among the people of Bangali speaking people the Imperial Government divided the Bangal Province in 1905. A closer examination to the nature of how Government of India is ruling the Nagas is not much different from how the British were ruling India. One of the reasons could be the fact that that the same set of people who were serving the British Empire took the onus of ruling the Independent India. The same Army or Police forces who were serving the British Empire continue to serve the same politicians who were also serving within the British Empire. It is like handing over the authority to Gaikhangam (current Dy. CM of Manipur) if India ends its invasion and control over Nagas. Now, taking the example of Nagas within the rule of India, we are divided into different administrative Units. Thus, Nagas, in Arunachal Pradesh have to encounter State constant engineering to Un-Naga them. Hence, even the official documents like ST certificate, the State machinery is removing the word Naga which was present earlier. Another example is a strong wave of non-Nagas in Arunachal propagating that there is no Nagas in Arunachal. The wave is also visible during the NPF (Naga Peoples Front) Arunachal Unit activities in the State where there is a strong opposition to spread their presence among the Nagas living in Arunachal. On the contrary all other political parties in India; National as well as Regional Parties are very much presence there but no opposition. This is nothing but the Indian State game plan to extinguish the Naga Nation which is best demonstrated in the writing of Mr. R.N. Ravi former Special Director of IB and the current interlocutor of GoI for Indo-Naga Peace Talk, published in The Hindu Editorial column (Nagaland: decent into chaos, Jan 23, 2014). In the case of Assam there is huge Naga and Non-Naga population mixing project going on. Thus, in the ancestral land of Nagas in Assam there is a huge influx of Non-Naga migrant which often resulted into violence. The recent example could be the Assam-Nagaland border conflict in the adjoining border of Wokha District of Nagaland. The recent development in Manipur vis-a-vis Nagas demand for Alternative Arrangement (AA) outside Manipur Government and Manipur State response is a reminiscent of how British Empire dealt in the question of separate administrative jurisdiction demanded by Bihari and Oriya speaking community outside Bangal Administration. Hence, Indian State is definitely an ardent and devoted follower of its master. India might be known to the world through Mahatma Gandhis Non-violence movement but I wonder whether it can work for a relatively smaller population when raising their voice against the State that control a huge population and territory. At least in the case of Nagas it has never worked out. To march forward defenceless toward a very hostile state security forces armed with guns and ever ready to fire live bullets is to me insane. Is this the way security forces are guided to maintain law and order? You see, those who wear a uniform can beat me very badly and can even killed me but as a peaceful Nagas protester you cannot raise your hand against the security forces forget about arming yourself, is to me injustice. Naga peace protest or rally or any form of non-violence means to register our voice and aspiration remain fruitless starting from Indian State invasion into the territory of Nagas. If there is anything that has worked so far than it is only the guerrilla movement because it causes loss to the Indian State in the form of soldiers lives and resources. However, killing innocent Nagas, burning the houses of innocent Naga civilian, creating animosity among different ethnic group in the N-E (Meitei vs Nagas, Kuki vs Nagas, etc.) does not cost Indian State anything. Also, if it is a peaceful means it does not disturb any of the Indian State interest. For Indian State, Nagas territory falls at the periphery and it does not have the power to impact any of their interest; economic as well as political interest so long it is non-violence means as there is no effective media coverage, the world are busy with many international issues, the areas has limited international tourist visiting, restriction are imposed to some international Organizations like Red Cross who can expose the Indian State. Hence, they are comfortable. Whereas, during the time of Mahatma Gandhi it was a very different situation. If there was non-cooperation movement lunch by the Indian mass then it had an adverse impact on to their economic interest likewise the same goes with Gandhi’s civil disobedient movement. Therefore, it is time to analyse whether inductive approach to the whole realization of legitimate historical aspiration of the Nagas can be fulfilled or not. No doubt, some of the means which is outside the experience of our Nation can be adopted and it can be very helpful for Nagas but at the same time it should also not discount the fact that Nagas themselves need to engineer a means that can lead us to where we want to go. Written by :Lakpachui Siro
Posted on: Sun, 31 Aug 2014 12:08:09 +0000
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