# Naga Conflict

The Naga conflict, also known as the Naga insurgency, is an ongoing conflict fought between the ethnic Nagas and the Government of India in North-East India. Nagaland, inhabited by the Nagas, is located at the tri-junction border of India on the West and South, north and Myanmar on the East.
Having begun in 1947, before Indian independence, the Naga conflict is the oldest insurgency of India. Not desiring to join the Indian Union, the Naga National Council, under the leadership of Zapu Phizo, declared Nagaland an independent state. At first the situation was peaceful, but on 22 March 1956 the recently formed Naga Central Government, which included a military wing, the Naga Army, began the insurgency.

## History

After facing significant resistance, the British ultimately defeated the Nagas in the Battle of Khonoma in 1880, establishing control over the Naga Hills. Using their divide and rule approach, they introduced education, Christianity, and altered traditional power structures.
During World War I, the British Government enlisted 2000 Nagas into the Labour Corps of the British Army. Faced with isolation and discrimination from other British-Indian troops, who bore little resemblance to them, the Nagas formed a bond of unity and camaraderie among themselves. Upon returning home, they pledged to promote unity and friendship among the diverse Naga tribes. Collaborating with British officials, the educated Naga staff of the then Deputy Commissioner's Office established the Naga Club in 1918, aiming to foster unity, integrity, harmony, economic development, political awareness, and socio-cultural engagement among the Nagas. This was the first organised political body representing the Nagas.
The Naga Club's first call for independence emerged in response to the recommendations of the Simon Commission, which led to the division of British India and Burma in 1937, splitting the Naga Hills between two countries. Preceding this, in 1929, the Naga Club forwarded a memorandum to the Commission, advocating for the Nagas to remain under British administration and not be included in any arrangement with the future Indian Government. This memorandum emphasised the Naga Club as the representative body of the Naga people, aiming to channel nationalistic grievances.

## Initial contentions

1946 saw the creation of the Naga National Council (NNC) under the leadership of Zapu Phizo. The evolution of the Naga Club into the Naga National Council (NNC) marked the foundation of Naga consciousness. The NNC leaders and the Governor of Assam, Sir Akbar Hydari, signed a nine-point agreement in 1947 which granted Nagas rights over their lands and legislative and executive powers. The judicial capacity of Naga courts was empowered, and no law from the provincial or central legislatures could affect this agreement. Very significantly, the agreement included a clause demanding that the Nagas be brought into the same administrative unit at the earliest. However, one clause stipulates:
   The Governor of Assam as the agent of the Government of India will have a special responsibility for a period of ten years to ensure that due observance of this agreement to be extended for a further period, or a new agreement regarding the future of the Naga people to be arrived at.
The interpretation of this clause has been contested between the Nagas and the Indian Government. To Nagas, this clause meant independence from India at the end of the ten years. To the Indian Government, this clause meant making a new agreement after ten years if the present agreement did not address Naga issues sufficiently. Phizo rejected the nine-point agreement because the agreement fell short of dealing with the issue of Naga sovereignty. Under Phizo's leadership, the NNC declared Naga independence on 14 August 1947, and, with success, propagated the idea of Naga sovereignty throughout the Naga tribes. The NNC channelled the grievances of the Naga cause through delegations to Delhi for negotiations with the Indian Government. With back and forth discussions, the talks reached an impasse, therefore the NNC under the leadership of Phizo, organised and conducted the first ever plebiscite in 1951. Despite certain limitations, such as the scope of coverage, the plebiscite resulted in an overwhelming 99% vote in favour of Independence. This outcome not only validated the NNC as the united voice of the Nagas but also affirmed the united Naga identity that had taken shape. With such a resounding mandate, the NNC mobilised the masses to take to the streets, prompting widespread peaceful protests all over the Naga regions. The Naga struggle remained peaceful in the 1940s and early 1950s.

## Insurgency

The Naga insurgency, climaxing in 1956, was an armed ethnic conflict led by the Naga National Council (NNC), which aimed for the secession of Naga territories from India. The more radical sectors of the NNC created the Federal Government of Nagaland (FGN), which also included an underground Naga Army. The Indian Government responded by deploying military troops in the region and designating the region as a 'disturbed area' which gave the soldiers legal impunity. At its peak, the number of soldiers equated to about one Indian soldier for every male Naga.
The insurgency witnessed a new spark in 2021 when fourteen innocent citizens of Nagaland, returning to their homes after a day of work in the coal mines, were ambushed and killed by the Indian Army soldiers of the 21 Para Special Forces army unit. The killings led to wide-ranging protests to hold the soldiers accountable and to ask for the repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. The Act, commonly known as AFSPA, was enacted in the state in 1958 by the central government of India, which authorises soldiers of the armed forces to shoot any suspected individual without formal orders from any superior civilian authority.

## Rebel groups

Several rebel groups have operated in Nagaland since the mid-twentieth century, including the following:
* Naga National Council (NNC): a political organisation active in the late 1940s and early 1950s, which became separatist under Angami Zapu Phizo
* Naga National Council (Adino) – NNC (Adino): the wing of NNC led by the daughter of Phizo.
* National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah): formed in 1980 by Isak Chishi Swu, Thuingaleng Muivah and S. S. Khaplang ADAMANT. They want to establish a 'Greater Nagaland' ('Nagalim' or the People's Republic of Nagaland) based on Mao Tse Tung's model.
* National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang): formed in 1988, its goal is to establish a 'greater Nagaland' based on ethnicity, comprising the Naga-dominated areas within India, and contiguous areas in Myanmar.
* Naga Federal Government: separatist movement active in Nagaland during the 1970s. After its leader was captured and the headquarters destroyed, NFG's activities decreased.
* Naga Federal Army: separatist guerrilla organisation active in the 1970s. Several hundred members of NFA reportedly have received training in China.