‘Great Expectations’ is the title of a famous novel written by Charles Dickens. I read this novel during my high school years and I can still vividly remember the accounts of the story which Charles Dickens narrated beautifully in this famous novel. Moreover, the main characters of the story like Pip, Estella, Miss. Havesham etc are still able to captivate me and capture my imagination.
However, this write-up of mine has nothing to do with this famous novel of Charles Dickens. Here, I am also not trying to narrate a fictional story. But as you read on, I am sure you will come to know why I have titled this write-up as ‘Great Expectations’.
The union home minister P. Chidambaram recently gave his much-awaited utterances on the issue of the demand for a new state called ‘Frontier Nagaland’ to be carved out of the present Nagaland. It was the ENPO (Eastern Naga People’s Organization) who had raised this demand which surprised and even shocked many. The contention of the ENPO was that their areas (namely Mon, Tuensang, Kiphiri, and Longleng) had not been developed at par with the other districts of Nagaland and that their people and areas could never be developed to the desired level unless they separate themselves from the present Indian state of Nagaland and become a full-fledged state themselves within the Indian union. However, the union home minister has finally declared that it would not be feasible on the part of the Indian government to create a new state just on development issues and has referred the matter back to the Nagaland government. And as of now, these utterances and the action of the union home minister seem to be a big blow to the aspirations of the ENPO.
When the ENPO first came out public with this demand, some of the DAN leaders tried to wash off their hands from this issue by mentioning that the ENPO was demanding statehood from the central government and not from the Nagaland government thereby indicating that it was none of the business of the state government of Nagaland. For me, it was a very unexpected and immature response on the part of the DAN government led by the NPF. This is so because the very fact that the ENPO demanded statehood during the tenure of the DAN government was actually a big insult and embarrassment to the Neiphiu Rio government.
Now, let us discuss another issue here. Did the ENPO really expect and hope that the Indian government would not mind granting them full-fledged statehood? If the ENPO really hopes or expects such a thing, then I would say that their expectations and hopes on the Indian government are indeed great and incredible. (Now you know why I have titled this write-up as ‘Great Expectations’).
One thing which we, Nagas, need to realize is that the Indian government based at New Delhi is actually too important, too busy, too occupied and too pressurized to be really concerned about anything that is happening here in faraway Nagaland. Delhi is actually concerned and focused on many other really big issues – both national as well as international.
A few years back, some people from Andhra Pradesh demanded that a new state called Telengana should be carved out from the present state of Andhra Pradesh. When this demand came to light, it made national headlines all over India. It was carried by all the national newspapers in its front page and this issue dominated the pages of the national newspapers for months. Moreover the TV news channels also gave maximum coverage to this news. However, sadly enough, I am yet to come across any national newspapers carrying even a tiny news on the so-called ‘Frontier Nagaland’. I am also yet to hear the words ‘Frontier Nagaland’ being mentioned in any of the TV news channels.
Moreover, we should also remember that lightning does not strike twice in the same place. The first lightning struck us in 1963 when the Indian state of Nagaland was created as the 16th state of the Indian union. Do we really expect another such lightning to strike us again here in the 21st century Nagaland? Oh, come on, my dear fellow citizens of Nagaland. It would be just sheer foolishness on our parts to expect that just because the Nehru government did not mind giving us full-fledged statehood in 1963, the Man Mohan Singh government also would not mind creating a new small state called Frontier Nagaland.
Here, we need to remember that the situations prevailing in the Naga hills in the 1950s and 1960s were completely different from the ones which we face today here in the 21st century. And the state of Nagaland which was created in 1963 was a product of those situations, events and incidences that were prevalent in the Naga hills at that time. And even if we want, we can never recreate or re-enact those times and circumstances. In short, this Indian state of Nagaland which was created in 1963 was born under extra-ordinary circumstances and events. It was granted by the Nehru government to placate the Nagas as the spirit of nationalism and patriotism was sweeping across the Naga hills during those times and the Nagas under the leadership of the NNC had been asserting full independence and sovereignty. So, we make a mockery of ourselves when we expect history to repeat itself.
In a way, this Indian state of Nagaland which was created in 1963 is also very different from all the other states of India. All the other states of India were created by the Indian parliament as per the powers vested upon it by the Indian constitution. But the creation of the state of Nagaland was not so. Nagaland was created as a result of an agreement between the Indian government and the so-called NPC which acted as a Naga representative body. And this agreement between the Indian government and the so-called NPC was also not just a mere agreement but it was a political agreement. So, these are the things that make the state of Nagaland so special, so unique and totally different from all the other states of India.
The only sad reality was that when this state of Nagaland was created in 1963, it was not made to encompass all the lands inhabited by the Nagas here in South-East Asia. It was made to cover only 16,579 sq. km whereas the total land areas of the Nagas run into 120,000 sq. km.
Earlier also, when the Britishers were about to leave their South East Asian empire, the Nagas had appealed to them not to throw them (the Nagas) into the sea of Indian politics. But the Britishers turned a deaf ear and a blind eye to our appeals. The result being that with the departure of the Britishers, the Nagas and their lands came to be divided between India and Burma.
Thus, history has already divided us and our lands because of which we are already called as Nagaland Nagas, Manipur Nagas, Arunachal Nagas, Assam Nagas and Burma Nagas. Isn’t this enough? We certainly do not need another group of Nagas called Frontier Nagas.
I have the utmost respects and regards for my eastern Naga brethrens and their frontal organizations like the ENPO and the ENSF but the demand for the so-called Frontier Nagaland was a step that had gone a little too far. History has already divided us into many fragments; therefore we make a mockery of ourselves in front of others when we, instead of making efforts to unite, demand for further divisions and bifurcations.
The lands occupied by the Nagas here in South East Asia measure up to 120,000 sq. km. When the Britishers left their South East Asia Empire in 1947, these lands were divided between India and Myanmar (Burma). Again in 1963 when the Nehru government created the Indian state of Nagaland, it was intentionally made to encompass only 16,579 sq. km. The result being that many of the lands of the Nagas came to be under the Indian states like Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam while many are still under Myanmar creating many tensions and issues between us and our neighbors to this day.
Therefore, when some Nagas are yet again making efforts to further divide even this 16,579 sq. km Nagaland, ‘Are We Not Digging Our Own Graves Yet Again?.......
