WHY NAGA NATIONALISM THRIVED FOR DECADES: AN ASSESSMENT

Abstract

The younger generation after August 25, 1997 Bangkok declaration between the NSCN-IM and Government of India, have seen less bloodshed and known more of the benign side of India. Today, the Naga youths are integrating and socializing into the mainstream culture by venturing out to major cities like Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata etc. for education, work, better opportunities and economic investments. This is happening alongside the unsettled political Indo-Naga issue. Here we try to understand the causes or reasons behind the rise and sustenance of Naga national movement that has dragged on for more than seven decades, how its social structure, communitarian landholding system, headhunting past, christian proselytization, porous international borders, rugged topography, firm leadership, effective management of dissent and elaborate mechanisms of taxation, all coalesced to give the Naga national movement a firm setting. Taken in right spirit, this assessment can produce a double-edged sword; on the one hand, we can identify how a certain problem is thriving or drawing its sustenance and therefore strategize toward its end. While on the other hand, it can embolden and encourage the other party to build on its strength. Understanding the nuances of Naga political movement becomes an indelible requirement in pursuit of peace and honorable settlement.