The peace process in Nagaland reached a new landmark in January 2003 with the visit of the leadership of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland - Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM) to New Delhi. In the State too, a popular yearning for peace translated into reinvigorated efforts by the civil society organisations for minimising conflict and establishing durable peace. However, throughout the year, Nagaland continued to witness incipient factional violence, which is not only an indicator of the deepened factional schism between the insurgent outfits but also a pointer towards the difficulty of bringing about long-lasting peace to the State.
There are obvious signs now that the NSCN-IM has established a firm foothold in Nagaland not only in terms of achieving a military superiority over all other factions but also in influencing efforts of the community-based organisations like the Church and the Naga Hoho (the apex tribal council) towards reconciliation among the different factions. In August 2003, the Naga Hoho dissolved the Reconciliation Commission, established to promote peace and understanding among the Naga tribes, much to the chagrin of the Church, after the NSCN-IM objected to the presence of two individuals in the Commission, namely Niketu Iralu and Charles Chasie.
However, there were also signs of the people growing restive of the excesses committed by the insurgents. On August 24, 2003, two cadres of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland - Khaplang (NSCN-K) were lynched by the people of Mokokchung for having killed a student who objected to the insurgents firing in the air. The irate mob set ablaze all visible signs of the outfit in the town, which included setting afire to a number of houses and vehicles belonging to the NSCN-K. The incident was followed by lynching of an NSCN-IM cadre in the Tuensang town on August 28. Although the immediate impact of these incidents is marginal, these are, however, significant in a conflict situation in which the insurgent outfits continue to rule the roost. Following the incident, citizens of Mokokchung town decided to stop paying extortion amount to the NSCN-K while the NSCN-IM has itself announced a ‘ban’ on the collection of ‘taxes’.
Conflict Dynamics
According to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Nagaland recorded a dramatic increase of over 62 per cent in insurgency-related incidents over the preceding year. Where as 128 incidents were reported in the year 2001, 208 such incidents occurred in 2002. All other indicators of insurgency too recorded an increase over the previous year. In all, 71 insurgents were killed (65 in 2001), 94 insurgents were arrested (80 in 2001), three security force personnel died (one in 2001), 16 civilians were killed (same as the previous year), 34 civilians were abducted (24 in 2001), 16 weapons belonging to the SF were looted and 133 weapons were recovered (96 in 2001).
The surrender and rehabilitation scheme for insurgents of the Northeast as a whole continued in 2002 with moderate success, as part of the Union Government’s surrender policy of 1995. In comparison to 59 insurgents who had surrendered in year 2001, 116 of them renounced violence during 2002 in Nagaland. Revelations made by the surrendered cadres provided information regarding the outfits’ operational dynamics. As per information available, both the outfits have been running training camps in Myanmar and many of the cadres are being trained in the Kachin State of Northern Myanmar.
Extortion by both the outfits continues unabated in the State targeting not only civilians, including the bureaucrats, but also vehicles plying within Nagaland and en route to Manipur on National Highway number 39. In May 2002, truck owners and drivers refused to ply vehicles on the road unless adequate security arrangements were made by the State authorities to protect them from the excesses of the NSCN-IM.
In spite of a number of insurgents laying down arms, both the outfits continue to maintain a sizeable number of cadres. The notable occasions of surrender during 2002 were:
Political Developments
The Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN), a conglomerate of five regional and non-Congress political parties, including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), assumed power in Nagaland on March 6, 2003, defeating the ruling Congress Party headed by S C Jamir in an election in which the interference of the outfits, especially the IM faction, reached new heights. Neiphiu Rio, who had served as Home minister in the previous Jamir Government, was sworn in as the new Chief Minister. IM faction cadres are reported to have forced voters to cast their ballot in favour of the DAN candidates. The NSCN-K, in a statement on March 4, blacklisted 17 newly elected State Legislators belonging to the National People's Front (NPF) and BJP in Nagaland for having connived with the IM faction during the election process. There is a widespread perception in Nagaland and outside that the new State Government enjoys a certain degree of proximity with the NSCN-IM. Whereas this development is perceived as being beneficial to the outfit, it poses a fresh challenge to the moves to bring unity among the warring insurgent factions.
Peace Process:
The five-year old process of negotiations with the NSCN-IM reached a high point in January 2003 when the collective leadership of the outfit came to New Delhi for a round of talks, ground work for which was laid in the three rounds of negotiations which were held between the Union Government’s interlocutors and the NSCN-IM leadership.
In March 2002, the outfit had put three conditionalities on its leadership’s visit to India:
The Union Government accepted the first two and the State Government of Nagaland had already withdrawn all pending cases against the NSCN-IM leadership in order to facilitate the peace process. While Chief Minister S C Jamir declared a safe passage to the leaders during a public meeting at Pughoboto on February 22, 2002, in November 2002, the ban on both factions of the NSCN was allowed to lapse and arrest warrants against the NSCN-IM leadership were withdrawn.
During the talks in New Delhi, in January 2003, the outfit’s leadership met the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minster and various other leaders and held several rounds of discussions during their fortnight’s stay. As per the Joint Communiqué issued by Thuingaleng Muivah, general secretary of the NSCN-IM and K. Padmanabhaiah, Representative of the Government of India, at the end of official level talks, both parties agreed on the importance of the unhindered negotiation process until a lasting agreement is reached.
Cease-fire with the NSCN-K too continued and on April 24, 2002, it was extended for another year. On May 8, 2002, the then Chief Minister S C Jamir maintained that negotiations with the NSCN-K would begin soon. However, this still remains a non-starter.
Result of the constant engagement with the insurgent outfit has been beneficial. For the first time since India’s independence, Nagaland celebrated the Independence Day on August 15, 2002, without a boycott call by any of the insurgent outfits operating in the State.
Fratricidal Clashes
In spite of a cease-fire with the Government of India, differences between the Khaplang and IM factions of the NSCN continued to persist. The Khaplang faction, yet to be involved in any negotiation process despite the continuing cease-fire agreement, appeared to grow restive of this perceptible isolation. In July 2002, the NSCN-K warned the Government of India that any agreement reached with the NSCN-IM would not resolve the Naga conflict. Previously, the outfit had questioned the very right of the NSCN-IM leadership, notably its general Secretary Muivah, to represent the Nagas. In a letter to the United Nations Military Group for India and Pakistan on July 24, 2002, the outfit maintained that "Tangkhuls (to which community Muivah belongs) being non-Nagas, were not fighting for Naga sovereignty but for their own selfish purposes" and demanded that "the NSCN-IM general secretary be booked and tried under the Tribunal Court in Hague for the massacre, rape, abductions and torture of thousands of innocent Nagas."
Internecine clashes between both the factions of the NSCN remained a matter of grave concern. Although no estimate is available, during the year, most number of deaths of insurgents resulted out of such fratricidal clashes rather than in counter-insurgency operations. Throughout the year, a vertical escalation of factional clashes in Nagaland added to the challenges of the law-enforcement agencies in Nagaland. Even though in August 2002 the Nagaland Government had threatened to take action against the two NSCN factions for violating the cease-fire agreement and endangering the ongoing Naga peace talks, and had tightened security at sensitive points along the Nagaland–Manipur border areas, the clashes showed no signs of abatement. The incidents of internecine clashes in 2002, most of which appeared to have taken place in the second half of the year, included the following.
On October 16, the Cease-fire Monitoring Group (CFMG) and Cease-fire Supervisory Board (CSB) Chairman, Lt. Gen. (Retd) R.V. Kulkarni, declared seven designated camps in Nagaland, for each of the two NSCN outfits, and urged both the groups to return to those camps and also to put an end to fratricidal killings. The seven designated camps for the NSCN-IM were Ngan, Punglwa, Tsuma (Kohima district), Seothekemia (Dimapur district), New Chungtia (Mokokchung district), Phiro- Lotsu (Wokha district) and Salomi (Tuensang district). The camps for NSCN-K were Athibung (Kohima district), Chukutong (Wokha district), Suruhoto (Zunheboto district) Yanpi, Panso (Tuensang district), Tiru (Mon district) and Longmisa in Mokokchung district. However, the NSCN-IM cadres were camping at four unauthorized locations at Tsiemekhuma, Mukali, Kudesh and Chimonger in Nagaland.
Further efforts by the CFMG included issuing of the photo identity cards to the insurgents, sixty each to both the factions of the NSCN. On October 18, 2002, twenty-nine NSCN-IM cadres were provided with photo identity cards. Further on November 11, 2002, thirty-six more IM cadres were provided with photo-identity cards. To have control over the straying insurgents, November 20, 2002, was set as the deadline to return to their designated camps.
NGO Initiative for Peace
In addition to the official level talks, endeavours for peace by non-governmental organizations in Nagaland remained at a significantly high level throughout the year. The delegates of the apex tribal council, the Naga Hoho, met leaders of both the factions intermittently. Also, the Naga Mothers’ Association (NMA) delegation met S S Khaplang during February 2002 in Myanmar to urge him to prevent intra-factional violence. The NSCN-IM, on its part, convened two consultative meetings at Bangkok with various sections of the Naga leaders to garner support for the ongoing peace talks. During the May 2002 meeting at Bangkok, a 73-member Naga delegation adopted a four-point declaration to ‘strengthen the peace strategy’, which
One of the major instances of involvement of non-governmental agencies to solve the conflict situation in Nagaland came when the Khaplang faction called for an indefinite economic blockade in Zunheboto district from August 28 to September 12 following an attack on its camps by the cadres of the IM faction on August 23. The outfit lifted the fortnight-long blockade after various organizations, led by Sumi Hoho (tribal council), assured under a tripartite agreement that stern action would be taken against violators of the ‘peace zone’ agreement. The blockade was withdrawn in view of the assurance given by the tribal councils that the June 4, 2000-resolution on the protection of peace zone would be implemented, and action would be taken against any violations.
Manipur Factor
The declared objectives of the NSCN-IM and other civil society organisations in terms of an extended homeland directly conflicts with the existence of the present State of Manipur. Representing strong opposition of the people of Manipur against the demands of the NSCN-IM for a territorial expansion, Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh refused to withdraw the criminal cases against NSCN-IM leaders. The Democratic People’s Party (DPP), a coalition partner of the Congress-led government in Manipur, finally lifted the ban on NSCN-IM under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act 1967, to facilitate the ongoing peace talks, after vehement opposition. But, it made clear that the cases against NSCN-IM leadership would remain intact, especially the April 1994 arrest warrant against Muivah. In protest, thousands of people, including a large number of women, turned up in a torch light procession in different parts of the State on January 17, 2003, against any attempt to divide Manipur to help settle the Naga imbroglio.
Illegal Migration
In addition to the search for peace, the issue of the illegal migration of Bangladeshis into Nagaland is emerging as a major challenge. Civil society organizations as well as insurgent outfits have tried to address the issue in their own ways. It is alleged that by taking advantage of the absence of the requirement to possess Inner Line Permit (ILP) into areas like Dimapur and Niuland, Bangladeshi citizens have crowded such areas. According to rough estimates, their number has already crossed two million in the State. In January 2002, the NSCN-K brought out a four-point guideline for the Muslims living in Naga areas. It called for: non-recognition of marriage between Nagas and Muslims, ban on the use of loud-speakers in Mosques, Muslim population should not exceed 2500 in any sector and that all Muslims should possess identity cards issued by the outfit. In July 2002, the outfit also asked the Muslims in Nagaland to collect their ‘Temporary Resident Permits’ from the ‘Immigration and Infiltration Department’ of the outfit.