[dropcap]B[/dropcap]y now I am sure; many good numbers of conscientious and sensible people of the State have grasped some basic idea of the contentious border problem between Assam and Nagaland. By this I am referring to those people who have no knowledge on the issue either because they were not from western side of the State or yet to be introduced on the issue either because they are not interested or they have not been affected directly by various developments in the border areas. Or still, they are either young or are group of people who wants to live in their own comfort zone only!However, I have also found many people who are quite familiar with the issue. Most of them are either retired bureaucrats or senior citizens who have been familiarized by recurrent turmoil that frequently erupts in the border areas but sadly could not even raise an eyebrow on the issue at the right time due to reason only known by them.
I have also come across good numbers of senior citizens who are ever willing to share some interesting stories and anecdotes. Yet, I must say if these stories relating to our people and land had to be taken with authenticity, then it must be recorded in written, more so since the case is under active litigation process in the Supreme Court. We cannot rely on our oral histories only since it may not be considered as authenticated evidences in the court of law.
People must be aware by now that the United Naga Tribes Association of Border Areas (UNTABA), an organization basically trying its best to represent the people living in and around border areas had been continuously raising its voices on the issue but sadly all on the deaf ears. Our joint endeavor is two-pronged objective: towards safeguarding the inherent rights of the people of Nagaland by pin-pointing the historical wrongs committed by various circumstances, agencies and factors in the course of our history, and; to protect and safeguard the people living in the border areas who are subjected to daily turmoil from every possible corner. The inexplicable problems faces by our people in their day today lives mostly comes from the people of questionable origins who have been constantly trying every possible means to settle in these lands tacitly pushed and approved from across the State and the inability of the successive Governments of Nagaland in enforcing various administrative mechanism in support of our people as well as to stop those encroachers.
The so called ‘neutral forces’ are directly functioning under the Government of Assam in spite of various existing terms of agreements. They are being issued ‘SOP’ (standard operation procedure) from ADGP of Assam Police. Our own State Administration, instead of raising objections in these unilateral actions of the Assam Government always bows down to the pressure of the Government of India, Home Affairs completely sidelining the terms of interim agreements that not only deprives the rightful occupation and settlements of our people but also completely negates the historical facts.
UNTABA had initiated various pragmatic approaches including ‘Peoples’ Dialogue’ conducted on August 9, 2014 with all the stake holders and the people directly affected by the border imbroglio and subsequently submitted a Representation to the Prime Minister of India at New Delhi on November 10, 2014 demanding the Government of India to implement various terms of Agreements made with the people of Nagaland, in particular, on the issue of bringing back the Naga people’s land that were systematically transferred to Assam by the then British Imperial Government of India since mid nineteenth century onward for their administrative conveniences without any positive consideration.
It must be clearly understood that the Government of India has deliberately sidelined the rightful claims of the Naga people. Instead of seriously considering our concern, the Government of India is bent on arbitrary bifurcation of the Naga country further through the honorable Supreme Court completely ignoring the Constitutional provisions of Article 3 & 4 and the agreed terms of provisions of ‘9 Point & 16 Point Agreements’.
This lackadaisical approach on the issue by the Government of India is more or less fueled by the disunity amongst the people of Nagaland. The emergence of different Naga Political Groups, hydra-headed civil societies and organizations within the State itself fighting against each other for petty issues and characterized by one-upmanship has given ready-made excuses for this indifference. This is the hard realities when the long pending border imbroglio between Assam and Nagaland, the wrong legacy and the relic of colonial British period in north-east India needed utmost attention of all.
On the other hand, it is really disheartening to observe the lackadaisical attitude of the successive Governments of Nagaland on the issue since the inception of Statehood. The Government of Nagaland had become an agent in bartering the land of its people instead of safeguarding the same.
Signing of an Interim Agreement in 1972 and reaffirming the same in 1979 with the Government of Assam had been one of the most give away agreements. Emboldened by these Agreements, the Government of Assam Forest Department who were given the authority to administer in all the Reserve Forests adjoining the present State of Nagaland have taken undue advantages all along by systematically establishing hundreds of townships, villages, industrial centers, tea estates, etc. within the Naga territories even though the Forest Department of Assam was supposed to take due permission even to undertake maintenance work in the existing roads inside these Reserve Forests which are still yet to be de-notified.
Again, by 1985 the Government of Nagaland agreed with the Assam Government in gradually identifying certain areas in the border and declared all the Naga inhabited areas as ‘Disputed Area Belt’ dividing into Sector A to F covering almost all the foot hill areas of Nagaland thereby completely negating the traditional, historical and political history of the Naga people. Not surprisingly the so called ‘Disputed Area Belts’ are now being claimed as theirs by the Assam Government in the honorable Supreme Court through the Original Civil Suit No. 2 of 1988 filed by it.
While the land of the people are being systematically encroached upon, the Government of Nagaland, instead of raising strong objections against the continuous and illegal settlements from across the State had been allowing and accepting new batches of settlements, the case in point being Ralan areas. Not only these developments but also all the existing Assam Police posts in the border areas are illegal because Assam cannot unilaterally establish any armed police Posts in the Reserved Forests in the border areas as per the interim agreements.
Nagaland Government meanwhile had already issued exploration and extraction licenses of mineral resources including crude oil and natural gas before ascertaining the mineral deposits beneath the surface as well ascertaining the actual length and breadth of the Naga land. This random action will surely bring wide ramifications in the near future.
The Government had also announced ‘Special Development Zones’ specifically mentioning the foothill areas of Nagaland in 2014. The people of Nagaland deserve ‘Smart Cities, Planned Cities’ and planned economic development. However, let us be realistic and ask ourselves – where is the foothill areas stretching from Khelma under Peren District to Tizit under Mon District? The hard fact is that our very own ‘Nagaland FootHill Road’ which seems to be under construction and had attracted media attentions for all the wrong reasons in itself falls under the very infamous ‘Disputed Area Belts’!
The question of ‘IBI’ or the unabated influx of illegal immigrants and the people of questionable origins who are invading Nagaland like swarms – the issue which have heated up to such an extent that all of us are dump-founded and I must say confused now, will have serious repercussions now and in our immediate future completely changing the demographic composition in few years time. Let us ask ourselves realistically – how can we ever imagine checking this unabated influx of illegal immigrants in Nagaland when these people are living well inside our kitchen? When we have no boundary, how can we expect ourselves to adopt appropriate mechanism to check such influx? These are some hard facts we must accept and seriously consider for the long term mechanism for posterity.
We have been conducting people to people interaction with all the leaders of different tribes and organizations so as to carry forward the issue in its right perspective with all the tribes of Nagaland on board without any tangible outcome so far. Let us question ourselves: Can we accept the likely outcome of the arbitration process that is currently under active litigation process in the honorable Supreme Court? Can we allow the Government of India to deliberately overlook various terms of Agreements made with the people of Nagaland prior to declaration of Indian Independence and the Statehood of Nagaland? Can we allow further arbitrary bifurcation of Naga lands before the final political settlement is arrived at between the Naga Political Groups and the Government of India? How long do we remain mute spectator whilst Nagaland Government acts according to the dictates of others at the expense of the Naga people’s history? What pragmatic step should we adopt for those transferred Naga lands that are still under Assam, the approximate measured areas of which is roughly 4,974.16 square miles or about 12,883.07 square kilometers as per the records available with the Department of Border areas? Can we afford to sideline these historical realities?
It is high time we put our heads and minds together irrespective of our different affiliations and associations. Let us not bind our minds with narrow considerations such as of being from different tribes, eastern, central or of being from southern or for such other orientations. Let us come together as one – a one Nagaland’s family. We should not be overwhelmed by the enormity of problems created by divisions and divisions amongst our people. Instead, we must objectively work together on important issue such as border problem vis-à-vis the traditional and historical land of the Naga people, otherwise, how can we ever expect ourselves to pursue the problem that lies ahead of us with the State of Manipur, Arunachal and Myanmar for that matter in near future?
We are fortunate because all the required recorded histories are available with us starting from the ‘Treaty of Yandabo of 1826’ made between the British Imperial Government of India and Burma, now Myanmar. Let us seriously consider on how to bring about broad consensus on the likely step or steps we may need to adopt with all the tribes of Nagaland on board at least on this issue!
HUKAVI T. YEPUTHOMI, Chairman, United Naga Tribes Association on Border Areas (UNTABA).
