A brief recap of the 16 Point Agreement, The Shillong Accord and speculations on the present Accord

Kaka D. Iralu

THE BACKGROUND: The Indo-Naga- Burmese conflict is a simple case of invasion, where in spite of Nagaland’s declaration of her independence on 14th August, 1947, both Indian troops and Burmese troops moved into ancient Naga territories and claimed these invaded territories as their own. The first political move towards this military invasion took place on March 29, 1953 when the Nehru, the Indian Prime Minister and U.Nu the Burmese Prime Minister, visited Kohima and Khampti after flying into Imphal, Manipur. On this secret mission, they refused to discuss any political issues with the Nagas except to dance with the local damsels and young men. As for the Naga elders and leaders who came to meet them, they walked away from the Kohima function as soon as they learned that they would not be allowed to submit any memoranda to the two foreign dignitaries.
Had these Naga elders had any doubts about their Naga identity and their Naga country, they might have listened to the two foreign Prime Ministers in order to make a deal with them for accommodation rather than confrontation. But these Naga leaders and elders knew exactly who they were and what their country is. So when these two foreign leaders (or their subordinates) told the Naga leaders that they would not be allowed to submit any memorandums to them, they simply walked out from the meeting place. In Naga customs, to be told by some guest that they would not talk to the host, was the highest form of insult and arrogance. The Naga leaders therefore, walked out-many even baring their buttocks by lifting their kilts and slapping them in front of the two Prime minsters. This, by the way, is the Naga style of returning insult for insult!THE 16 POINT AGREEMENT: As soon as Nehru and U Nu left, arrest warrants were issued against the NNC leaders and they were hunted down like animals by the Assam Rifles and the Assam Armed Police. This was followed by the invasion of the Regular Indian Army from Oct. 1955 onward. And as the military occupied Nagaland with over one hundred thousand troops, the Indian Intelligence Bureau under S.M. Dutt made a secret deal with some Naga opportunist. S.M. Dutt was then; the Deputy Director of the Indian Intelligence Bureau (I.B.). Dutt himself coined the words “Naga People’s Convention” (NPC) and carried out this most covert deal with the Naga opportunist. After a series of meetings with Naga leaders who did not know the true intentions of the Convention, 19 Nagas were taken to Delhi by flight and were made to meet Nehru on the 26th July 1960. (This was the same day that Phizo addressed the world press at London and presented his book “The fate of the Nagas: An appeal to the world.”) Then suddenly on 27th July 1960, an announcement was made to the world that as the Nagas themselves have demanded for a state within the Indian union, a full fledged Indian state had been granted to them. (For details, see “Uncovering the political lies that have covered Indo-Naga history from the 1940’s to the Present”)
That July 27, 1960 announcement took everyone, both- Nagas, Indians and Naga sympathizers across the globe- by total surprise. Many Indian politicians expressed their shock that something unbelievable had been done behind their backs when they realized that hardly four lacks Nagas had been granted the status of a full Indian state where in the case of the other states, seven eight million people constituted the states. This secret deal was done by bypassing the NNC and FGN, plus the whole Naga public, except those few tribal leaders who were fooled into thinking that they were all along, working for restoration of peace in war torn Nagaland of the late 1950s. In fact, even senior and active members within the NPC like Mr.Kevichiisa, Vizol, Megoriato etc did not know the true intentions of the 16 Point Agreement and returned to Kohima when they discovered the facts from Dimapur. On hearing about the announcement, General Shrinagesh, who was the first GOC of the invading Indian troops and later became the Governor of Assam exclaimed: “This means leaving the Militants out of the settlement. It was with the Militants that the Government of India had to come to a settlement for peace in the area, and not with the ‘liberals’ who had no conflict with the Government of India.” (Harish Chandola; The Naga Story, p.139)
Other sympathizers of the Naga resistance thought: “Had Nagas suddenly forgotten all about their terrible sacrifices of ten years and asked for an Indian state to their shame?” That, as we all know, was never the case, but in practical reality, when the 19 Nagas who went to Delhi came back to Nagaland, they came back with the might of the Indian army and the political power of India behind them. As a result, all Nagas were dumped into the Indian bosta (Bag) under the Constitution of India.
Now as we wait with bated breath, what the terms of the present GOI and NSCN IM accord will unfold, let us hope that it will not turn out to be yet another 16 Point Agreement or another Shillong accord.
THE SHILLONG ACCORD: In the case of the 1975 Shillong Accord, the accord became an invalid document even before the ink in the dotted lines had dried up. And by “invalid,” I mean- the so called Shillong Accord of 1975 never mentioned the Indo-Naga conflict nor did it even mention the word Nagas or Nagaland while purporting that the document had finally solved the Indo-Naga conflict that had raged on for 28 years at that point of time (1947-1975). It was not surprising then, that late Phizo, the then NNC President, with the exception of denying his participation in the Shillong Accord fiasco and giving instructions to his Vice President and all the top Generals of the Naga army, completely ignored it. In the end the Shillong Accord died a natural political death, as it was never ratified by the Indian Parliament on the one hand and on the other hand, sent back to Governor L.P. Singh by the then President of the FGN with the clear statement that because of constitutional constraints of articles 149 and 150 of the Naga Yehzabo, he was unable to accept clause 1 and 3 of the Shillong Accord. Having said that, I am also fully aware that there are those, who have blown the Shillong Accord out of all proportions and condemned it as a treasonous act of surrender committed by the Tenyima people. But whatever the case may be, as educated and matured Nagas, let us all acknowledge that- an accord is not a political settlement, if it is not ratified by both parties of the governments involved in the conflict.
THE PRESENT ACCORD: This time round, let us at least hope that, the second accord of the NSCN IM with the Government of India will mention something about the Indo-Naga war of invasion and India’s forceful occupation of Nagaland through dubious means. If these facts of Indo-Naga history is not addressed and resolved, the present accord will end most likely with just some additional goodies added to the already existing article 371A of the 16 Point Agreement. In such a case, Nagas will be for the second time, forced to abide by Indian engineered and Indian imposed shackles of subject hood. Pardon my speculations, if they turn out to be wrong. However, as a bona fide citizen of Nagaland, I feel that I am fully justified to speculate as much as I want to speculate, because they too, had been silent for all the past 18 years over what has been purported to be talks for a final settlement.