Author: Homen Borgohain & Pradipta Borgohain
Publisher: Rupa
Price: Rs 395
The book only widens the chasm between the Nagas and the other Indians, writes Prakash Singh
The Borgohains have excellent credentials and one opened the book with expectations. It is true that there is very poor appreciation of Naga history and culture in the heartland of India and that there are unfortunate incidents which highlight the ignorance and apathy of people even in Delhi. The authors have rightly talked of “the yawning emotional gulf between the Nagas and the other Indians” and the need to bridge it. Unfortunately, however, the book makes no such attempt and, on the contrary, it may only widen the chasm. There are any numbers of references in the book to “Nagaland and India” as if the two are separate entities. The authors have also unfortunately used expressions like “the war of liberation” for the secessionist movement and talked of the issue of “Naga self-determination” — terms which the rebel leaders themselves have not used or, perhaps, seldom used.
The sub-title of the book, “The endless history of the Nagas”, is also incomprehensible. History of any people (unless we are talking of the primitive tribal groups which have become extinct) is always a living continuum. It is only the beginnings which are often shrouded in mystery, as is the early history of the Nagas.
The authors have correctly stated that the British initially played the game of ‘divide and rule’ among the Nagas, taking advantage of their historical animosities. Later, they applied the same strategy to drive a wedge between the Nagas and the rest of Indians. Ever since the dawn of Independence, the Government of India has been fighting this legacy. In the same breath, however, the authors talk of the Indian Government as the new ‘conquerors’. You do not conquer your own area or your own people — you only establish your authority over them. The authors do not seem to be aware of the references to Kiratas in the Yajurveda or Atharvaveda or their participation in the great battle of Mahabharata or, may be, they do no not agree with Suniti Kumar Chatterjee who believed that they were none other than the Nagas belonging to the Indo-Mongoloid family.
The authors are quite uncharitable to the Army. “While it is true that the Indian Army faced provocation from the Naga fighters”, the authors aver, “they do not hold a record to be proud of in Nagaland”. They have also said that the Army’s conduct “towards the members of the peripheral communities needs an overhaul”. In an insurgency, some excesses happen — from both sides! However, one should go by the overall picture and not by the deviant behaviour of a few soldiers. Kenneth Kerhuo of the Angami Baptist Mission, Jasokie and several others, in a joint statement published in the Naga Khabar, stated: “No armed force in the world could have behaved better than the Indian armed forces have done in Naga Hills.”
The Government of India has been faulted for almost everything going wrong in Nagaland. There is no doubt that the Union Government has been singularly inept in handling the problems of the Northeast. But the Nagas also need to introspect the reasons for continued strife in the region. The Government has been large-hearted in the grant of funds for development to the entire Northeast. Available statistics show that as against the all-India average of Rs 683.94 per capita, central assistance to the Northeast has been Rs 2,574.98 per capita. If this money has not been properly utilised, who is responsible for that? Is it not true that the ruling elite in Nagaland is corrupt? Fratricidal conflicts among the Nagas are today a serious problem. On the night of February 24/25, 2011, there was a bloody confrontation between the NSCN(IM) and NSCN(K) groups on the Tirap-Myanmar border in which 35 lives were lost. Who is responsibly for these internecine conflicts? The security forces have been scrupulously observing the ceasefire agreement and avoiding any confrontation with the Naga rebels. The NSCN, on the other hand, continues to indulge in extortion and other illegal activities. If the ceasefire continues to hold today, who gets the credit?
The Naga rebels may have several grievances against the Government — and these have been highlighted in the book — but they would do well to remember that no Government would have been more indulgent, accommodating and sympathetic. The indigenous people have been almost wiped out in the US. The aborigines got a very raw deal in Australia. The Chechens in Russia are being steam-rolled into submission. The Tibetans in China are having a harrowing time. The Nagas, on the other hand, as Hutton said, are having “best of two worlds — complete self-government for themselves, as much or as little administrative isolation from the rest of India as they wish, and the backing of India of which their country is essentially a geographical entity”.
The authors’ intellectual effort is impressive. The presentation is lucid. One only wishes their approach had been more positive.
The reviewer, a former BSF Director General, is the author of several books, including Kohima to Kashmir