History of Naga Nationalism from the religious perspective

The keen observation on the consistent pattern of beliefs, behaviors, thoughts and emotions of the pioneers of the Naga political foundation endorses the accessibility of the phenomenal divine traits in their high perceptive of nationhood, which contemporary thoughts are totally devoid of, which necessitates us to go in depth to dig out the unique concept of Naga nationhood from religious perspective. When the gospel of nationalism transpires, the Naga Christians with the pre-conditioned biblical concept of nationhood found not culpable to embrace the movement which vowed to protect their sacred land. It is also evident that the Naga national leaders had subscribed to Biblical concept of nationhood which made the movement very unique leading to the Naga’s passionately fostered and loyal to the movement (with dual cause, i.e., political freedom from mainland domination and religious freedom from Hinduism). The remarkable growth of Christianity has no doubt indebted to the early convert Naga political Leaders whose religious, ethnic and cultural views on the Mainland Indians have roused the people from sinking to the Indian Union. These leaders had a great hope to secure a Christian Nation, as such they brought more affinity between nationalism and Christianity.The Naga nationalists were God fearing leaders and were led by the prophetic temperament. They acknowledged God in all their works, looked for His guidance and protection. They were faithful to the nation which they believed was bestowed by God and to protect it became their avid duty. The Naga Nationalists unequivocally considered India beneath the heat of ‘Hindu Government’ and reckoned it must fight against it to preserve Naga identity and Christianity. Indubitably, the expressions of faith and conviction of the pioneers and contemporary Naga National leaders, their earnest call of repentance and obedience to God portrays their deep adherence on the political foundation that had been set on the faith of God.
The Gospel of Christ and the Gospel of Nationalism raced with its full gallant side by side in the same pages of Naga history. The gospel of nationalism under the headship of Naga pro-independence and the gospel of Christ under the witnesses of the foreign missionaries as well as the local evangelists grew hand in hand where the Nagas viewed both the forces as the new way of life which virtually answered to their miseries eventually accepted it stanchly.
Effort to make history with God
The Naga Movement is primarily a political movement with aspire to achieve an independent Christian nation. It is evident that in the backdrop of the Naga political history, Nagas have attempted to make history with God, through several commitments. On the Naga Plebiscite day of 1951, A.Z. Phizo, the then President of N.N.C. under his leadership; the N.N.C. conducted a plebiscite on 16th May 1951. His speech on plebiscite imprinted his total dependence upon God’s favor of the Naga cause and also portraying his deep conviction of the Naga national movement as a sacred mission to safeguard His provisions. On his speech he held, “We shall do whatever is humanly possible but what is beyond our capacity we shall entrust it to our Almighty God”.
Fascinatingly, the Naga political foundation was footed on the Divine rule. The Naga Yehzabo is unique one because of its firm biblical foundation. National Institutions based on biblical concept of common ideals of Democracy, equality, Justice, Liberty and fraternity among the people is unique among the nations and is worth imply. A Naga constitution was presented on 22nd March 1956 later, amended in 1962 by the parliament. The preamble of the constitution runs thus- “we the people of Nagaland, solemnly acknowledging that the sovereignty over this earth and the entire universe belong to the Almighty God, and the authority of the people to be exercised in the territory a secret trust from God, who sustain our forefathers, the National workers and our people through the years of trouble, and having our attachment, to the truth of popular sovereignty as declared on March 22, 1956 and the articles contained in the provisional Yehzabo of 1962.”
Consequently, the Yehzabo of 1962 and the Plebiscite of 1951 has become the mainstay of the Naga Covenant with God. These two institutions declared the authority of the Almighty God upon the entire universe and made a pledge with God to live according to His purpose with a total obedience and dependence on God’s authority. It also affirmed that Nagas without God cannot do anything. These covenants made by our fore-fathers were on behalf of Nagas for all the generation to come. The Naga Churches involvement on peacemaking should replenish this Naga historical covenants, acknowledges the authority of God and the promised to hold on His guidance for the future Nagaland to remind the Nagas long time back broken covenant with God. The Naga political leaders must lead the nation founded from the biblical model.
The Naga National Council initially came into being to achieve its desire goals of sovereignty which they believed was an imperative operation from God. However, the movement that had appeared to achieve freedom became a contentious institute resulted in fratricidal killing among the Naga political groups today. During the Indo-Naga War, most of the Nagas were typically confined to their own villages. There was no proper road connection. They were cut off from the Indian leaders’ determination to dominate their sovereign villages existing since time immemorial and never bother about the world affairs. But slowly with the entry of Christianity the Nagas’ worldview was widened and awakened from their slumber state to the world affairs through the contact, exposure and education. Therefore, when A.Z. Phizo arrived, travelling around the villages propagating the national movement’s code, people could understand and accept his gospel of nationalism without more ado. They willingly endorse the Naga cause and worked together without any distinctions which are the startling fact in the history of Naga freedom struggle.
Sanctity of the Naga Freedom Movement
On December 1952 the Naga leader A.Z. Phizo departed to travel to the United Nations in New York via Burma to make known the fate of the Naga to the world. Unexpectedly, the India intelligence hoodwinked the Burmese authorities into serving order to detain them. While under detention, Jawaharlal Nehru invited the Burmese Prime Minister U Nu to visit Kohima in an attempt to sabotage Naga stand. Accordingly, on March 30, 1953, the two Prime Ministers came to Kohima. During their visit the NNC leaders decided to accord a rousing welcome to the two leaders. However, to the utter dismay and surprise of the fifteen thousand assembled Nagas, they were told by the India administration that no address either in speech or in writing would be entertained during the meeting. This was communicated to the NNC just ten minutes before the function was to set in motion. This was a grievous offence to the Naga sense of hospitality. The then Assam police personal and the India security forces, including the Assam Rifles, harassed the leaders who tried to meet the Prime Minister. Thus, in great resentment the Nagas walked out of the meeting which was to be addressed by the prime minister of India.
In the same year of Jawaharlal Nehru’s visit to Kohima, whose public address was boycotted by the public, immediately arrest warrants were issued against NNC leaders. The Assam maintenance of Pubic Order act of 1953 was promulgated in the Naga Hills District and sensitive areas were declared as “disturbed”. Properties of leaders were confiscated and auctioned, crops in the fields were destroyed and wives and children of several leaders were arrested and detained in jail. There were also charges that American Baptist missionaries were behind the movement and all American Baptist missionaries were driven away from Nagaland. In order to suppress the movement a joint force of armed police and the paramilitary Assam rifles moved into the Naga Hills, waging a full scale war against the Naga people and conducted genocide in Nagaland but that only exacerbated the existing tense situation.
In retaliation and as a counter measure the Federal Government of Nagaland in accordance with the wishes of the people of Nagaland declared on March 22, 1956 to govern the Naga territory including free Nagaland. The NNC began to prepare for armed resistance against Indian. In March 1965, the NNC hoisted the Naga national flag in the Rengma area and proclaimed the formation of the “Federal Government of Nagaland”. By 1956, the NNCs guerrilla army consisted of 5,000 men, equipped with traditional spears and daos as well as weapons left over from World War II. The Naga War had begun. The following years were stories of bloods and tears.
The Indian armies began to inflict the villagers, questioning, threatening irrespective of young or old, male or female. The enormous struggle with the government of India began during the late forties and early fifties with severest and hardest in sixties. Houses were burned down repeatedly, beating, killing, raping and torturing were daily occurrence that the villagers could no longer live in the village and had to abandon their village to the dense jungles of unfavorable environment where many people experienced different quandaries. Most of the churches were burnt down and converted into Indian army concentration camp. In this situation, many believers were forced to join the Naga army. There are even stories which projected the pioneers of the Christianity in the village who deserted the Church and joined Naga Army believing the movement as sacred and was something acceptable in the sight of God. Many people died of hunger, sickness, cold, and killed by the Indian army. Local Pastors and evangelists would risk their life probing the fellow believers strengthening their faith and soothing to look to God in their miseries. Many people hoped for God’s intervention in their predicaments and having no confidence in their strength turned to God.
When people suffered physically and mentally due to various afflictions during the war, they began to seek the true God, the Savior of the world. Although the church organization was not able to function properly, yet the church grew rapidly at this juncture. The fastest growth and establishment of the churches took place during the mounting of the Naga Political conflict which had begun from 1954. Most of the Churches were established between 1953- 1971. It is found that the Church has grown rapidly during this period due to the political turmoil of those days, which compelled people to look up to God for protection.
For the distance writers and the far observers, the formation of the Naga National movement is responsible for the Foreign Missionaries whose hands were imprinted behind the writing of the first Naga memorandum submitted to Simon commission in 1929. However, the Naga history has clearly showed that the sense of the Naga Nationalism had existed far ahead from the Simon Commission and Second World War which took place in 1939-1945. it is a well known fact, that from the initial upsurge of the Movement, the Indian leaders become aware of the Naga National leaders stalwartly following Christianity whose ideologies and national principles were very much attached to the bible. The long back existing sense of nationalism was abetted with the entry of Christianity in Nagaland with its highly nationalistic Scriptures. Fascinatingly, the church leaders and evangelists were implanted by the strong sense of nationalism. The fervent involvement of the Christians in the arena of the Naga freedom struggle everywhere in Nagaland, their promptness of selfless service to the cause, their allegiance to the national leaders tremendously enhanced the zealous movement. In such state of affairs, many church leaders and missionaries were slain. All these clues perhaps helped the Indian writers to develop their understanding on the Nagas’ sagacity of nationalism to the level of mere “religious feud”.
Conclusion
The burning of the Naga villages and the priceless cultural heritage of the forefathers that its generation continues to hold with pride is one of the reasons why the youngsters failed to copy their own customs and traditions today. Undeniably, the smoldering of the original documents and reports by the India army has caused the enduring gap to be filled up till today. Thenceforth, to understand a complicated subject like Naga political issue, one should know the roots of the Naga political Movement. One can certainly unearth the buried facts of the past. It is very complicated issue; many factions, all claims to be truth, ready to do anything to defend and worship their own ideologies. In this context, to speak against the false is eminent to face the fate which closed the path of peace-building in Nagaland. This is the challenge to all the Nagas to join hands and brains to bring this problem to an end. The church needs to move out of the confined zone and look for the paradigm shift of a living theology that addresses the reality of the people.
There are times that only total self giving brings change. Jesus Christ in his three years ministry tried to restore the ruined society of his own by means of teaching, performing miracles, exemplary lifestyle etc. However, only when he acted radically at the Jerusalem temple by turning upside down the trading-table, untied animals for sacrifice, publicly denounced false preachers, teachers and civil leaders at the top of his lung could disband the false beneath the membrane of truth. How do we interpret Jesus’ radical approach to the current political context? How then shall the church bring change to the given society with its neutrality? How many Young Church leaders proverbial to the background of the Naga political account today? How are they going to deal the problem based on historical fact? Is the prayer for Naga sovereignty irrelevant to the current Naga churches? It is the sky-scraping time to tackle the long standing Naga political issue by carrying out real practical approaches, rather than negotiating the doctrinal aspects. It calls for truthful involvement in the society. The current situation also demands new attitude towards the existing state of affairs which has adverse effects on Christian’s life.
Kuknalim
Thüpukhoto Sakha