Khrietuonyü Noudi
In all the official records maintained by the state government of Nagaland and also in all the school textbooks studied by our children in schools, it is mentioned that the size of Nagaland in terms of area is only 16,579 sq. km. This makes Nagaland the fourth smallest state amongst the 28 states of India and the second smallest state amongst the so-called north eastern states of India. The three states of India which are smaller than Nagaland are Tripura, Sikkim and Goa. This fact stands despite the fact that Nagaland was created as the 16th state of the Indian union in 1963 and despite the fact that many of the states of the Indian Union are actually younger to her. It is also worthy of mention here that even the three newest states of India (Jharkhand, Uttaranchal and Chattisgarh) which were created in November 2000 are all more than thrice the size of Nagaland.
When one comes across this kind of records and information, one may be tempted to believe and say that if Nagaland is only 16,579 sq. km in size, then it is too small to be an independent nation in itself or even that it cannot even compete with most of the other Indian states on an equal footing – not to mention about this 16,579 sq. km Nagaland competing or fighting with the giant India.
However, through this write-up, I would like to highlight that this is one of the most untrue, deceiving and treacherous information I come across every now and then. This is so because through the many books I read on Nagaland, I have come to realize that the area of the land occupied by the Nagas in South-East Asia since time immemorial between the borders of India and Burma (Myanmar) is around 120,000 sq. km. Thus, through some reliable writings, it has become clear to me that the area presently covered by the Indian state of Nagaland is not even one-sixth of the area of the real and actual Nagaland.
Therefore, in actuality, the real and actual Nagaland which is about 120,000 sq. km in size is even bigger than the following prominent countries of the world:
1)Austria 2) Belgium 3) Bhutan 4) Bulgaria 5) Hungary 6) Ireland 7) South Korea 8) United Arabs Emirates (UAE) 9) Sri Lanka 10) Portugal 11 ) Netherlands 12) Cuba 13) Czech Republic 14) Denmark 15) Croatia 16) Switzerland 17) Liberia 18) Serbia 19) Jordan and some other countries.
Here, it may also be mentioned that the real and actual Nagaland (120,000 sq. km) is much bigger than South Korea (98, 859 sq. km) and almost the size of North Korea (120, 538 sq. km).
Likewise, the real and actual Nagaland would also be bigger than all the so-called North-Eastern states of India and even the following Indian states:
1) Bihar 2) Haryana 3) Kerala 4) Punjab 5) West Bengal 6) Himachal Pradesh 7) Jharkhand and 8) Uttarakhand (previously Uttaranchal)
Here, we need to understand that when the Naga Club submitted its memorandum to the Simon Commission in 1929, the Nagaland which the Naga Club talked about in its memorandum was certainly not this 16,579 sq. km Nagaland but the Nagaland which is 120,000 sq. km in size. Likewise, when Phizo and the NNC met Mahatma Gandhi in Delhi in July 1947 and Jawaharlal Nehru in March 1952, the Nagaland which they talked about was not the 16,579 sq. km Nagaland but the real Nagaland measuring around 120,000 sq. km in area.
Moreover, all the Naga patriots who perished in the Indo-Naga conflict during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s did not sacrifice their lives for this 16,579 sq. km Nagaland but for the real Nagaland which is about 120,000 sq. km in size. Likewise, all those Naga patriots who marched into China and Pakistan to beg for arms and ammunitions did not risk their lives crossing international borders to fight for this 16,579 sq. km Nagaland. But they risked their lives and theirs’ everything to fight for their land which is about 120,000 sq. km in total area. However, even if Nagaland was actually just 16,579 sq. km in size, I believe they would have still done the same because their Nagaland (however small it might be) would still be worth fighting for.
Then how did this distorted 16,579 sq. km Nagaland come into existence? This 16,579 sq. km Nagaland came into being as a result of one of the most treacherous, cunning and unforgivable act committed by the Nehru government and some so-called Naga leaders calling themselves the NPC (Naga People’s Convention).
The members of this NPC (Naga People’s Convention) drafted a document called the 16th Point Agreement at a time when the whole Naga hills were literally sprawling and crouching under the military boots of the mighty Indian army. The Nagas declared their Independence on 14th August 1947 and even a nation-wide plebiscite was conducted by the NNC in May 1951 to declare to the world and India once and for all that the Nagas were an independent nation and that they had no intention to be a part of either India or Burma. However, the Indian government led by Nehru refused to acknowledge these steps taken by the Nagas and invaded Naga country with its mighty army bringing about untold suffering and hitherto un-experienced torture and destruction amongst the Nagas.
It was under these circumstances that the members of the so-called NPC tried to bring a compromise to the prevailing situation in Nagaland by coming to a sort of understanding with the Indian government. In this way, they drafted the now famous or infamous 16 Point Agreement and presented it to the Nehru government for acceptance. Once this agreement was accepted by the Nehru government, Nagaland and the Nagas were to become a part and parcel of the new independent India.
I doubt whether Nehru would have actually granted full-fledged statehood to the Nagas under normal circumstances. However, the incidences and the events that were taking place in the Naga hills ever since the Indo-Naga conflict erupted in the early 1950s coupled with the landing of A.Z. Phizo in London in June 1960 somehow left Nehru with no other option other than to agree to the 16 Point Agreement which had been earlier drafted by the NPC. Thus, this 16,579 sq. km Nagaland with which we all are so familiar came into existence
I have always wondered whether any discussion ever took place between the Nehru government and the NPC about the territory of the new state of Nagaland that was about to be created. Did the NPC mention anything to the Nehru government about the total area of land that would be encompassed by the new Indian state of Nagaland that was about to be created? I sincerely feel and believe that if the NPC members had been very particular in negotiating with the Nehru government about the territory of the new state of Nagaland that was to be created, we would not be facing many of the border issues that we face today with our neighboring states like Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and even Myanmar. As for the Nehru government, they granted full-fledged statehood to the Nagas only to placate them as they were asserting total independence and sovereignty, therefore they must have intentionally made the boundary of the new state as tiny as possible.
Therefore, even though many people may be grateful for this Indian state of Nagaland which was born in 1963, one should not forget that a most treacherous distortion of our land was done with the birth of this Indian state of Nagaland in 1963. After all, a Naga who knows that the real and actual Nagaland in 120,000 sq. km in size, can never accept or digest the fact that this Nagaland was intentionally distorted and shrunk into just 16,579 sq. km in size. And for this distortion, I blame both the Nehru government and the NPC.
Therefore, when we say or write that Nagaland is only 16,579 sq. km in size, we deceive not only others but also ourselves. The truth is that 16,579 sq. km is not even one-sixth of the total land area occupied by the Nagas here in South-East Asia.
After my graduation, I studied in Delhi for about 5 years. And during my stay in Delhi, my non-Naga friends considered me as someone who hailed from one of the smallest states of India. I was considered as someone who came from a land which is only 16,579 sq. km in size. But the truth is that I do not belong to a land that is only 16,579 sq. km in size. I belong to a land that is around 120,000 sq. km in area - as one of our local writers rightly put it; the real and actual Nagaland is over five times the size of Israel.
I do not know how many Nagas actually feel really sorry about the treacherous distortion of our land that was done in the early 1960s and how many actually crave to integrate all the lands of the Nagas under one administrative unit. But as far as I am concerned, it would be really like witnessing a new heaven and a new earth if the whole 120,000 sq. km land of the Nagas could be brought under one administrative umbrella in the near future or at least during my lifetime……
