The Naga conflict, also known as the Naga Insurgency, is an ongoing conflict fought between insurgent groups composed of ethnic Nagas, and the government of India in northeastern 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.
"National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang)", which wants an independent "greater Nagaland" to also include territory now in Myanmar, based on ethnicity; and the "Naga National Council (Adino)".
The question of "Naga Sovereignty" was put to a plebiscite on 16 May 1951. To defend themselves, the Naga, after much deliberation, formed the armed wing of the NNC and came to be known as the NSG (Naga Safe Guards) under Kaito Sukhai.
History
1946 saw the creation of the Naga National Council (NNC) under Phizo's leadership. The NNC leaders and the Governor of Assam, Sir Akbar Hydari, signed a nine-point agreement 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. A Naga plebiscite was organised on 16 May 1951. The Naga struggle remained peaceful in the 1940s and early 1950s.
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 insurgency witnessed a new spark in 2021 when fourteen citizens of Nagaland 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, commonly known as AFSPA.
Insurgent groups
Several rebel groups have operated in Nagaland since the mid-twentieth century, including the following:
- Naga National Council: 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 oldest political Naga organisation, now led by the daughter of Naga separatist A.Z. Phizo.
- National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah): formed on 31 January 1980 by Isak Chishi Swu, Thuingaleng Muivah and S. S. Khaplang 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 on 30 April 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.