The news story broken by the Guwahati based Seven
Sisters Post about the Government of India’s offer for a Supra State body to
NSCN-IM for administering Naga people beyond the boundary of the present State
of Nagaland in such areas as culture, custom and tradition has, as expected,
generated mixed responses across the whole North East region. Hopes and
apprehensions evoked by the news story are more discernible in Manipur than in
Assam and Arunchal Pradesh, the other two States broadly encompassed by the
proposed Supra State body. Much before the Government of India’s offer for
Supra State body was made public by the Seven Sisters Post, Naga frontal
organisations under the captaincy of the United Naga Council (UNC) have imposed
economic blockade on the national highways connecting Imphal with other cities
of India and it is still going on. Initially, the highway blockade was launched
to counter the indefinite blockade imposed by the Sardar Hills Districthood Demand
Committee(SHDDC) against the latter’s pursuit of a separate Sadar Hills
district. However, the UNC, till date, has not displayed any intention to lift
the counter blockade even though the blockade which they intended to counter
was lifted 26 days back. It is no longer a counter blockade but purely a
blockade. The moment SHDDC lifted their blockade, the UNC’s justification for
the counter blockade vanished in thin air. Yet, the counter blockade continues,
and now the UNC’s vindication is New Delhi’s failure to take forward the
process for alternative arrangement (for the Nagas of Manipur).
Here we cannot overlook the fact that UNC’s renewed
demand for alternative arrangement came at a time when New Delhi’s offer for
Supra State body was already made public. The UNC, as per news reports
published by The Sangai Express on November 22, 2011, maintained that the
ongoing economic blockade would be called off once the Government of India sends
its feedback over the alternative arrangement demand. Again, the same report
quoted the UNC as stating that “the matter (Supra State body) is at a
high-level Indo-Naga talk process”.
In view of the re-invigorated campaign for alternative
arrangement and the report about the offer for Supra State body, which of
course was rejected by the Home Minister of India, Shri. P. Chidambaram as “baseless
and mischievous”, only to be rebuffed by the Seven Sisters Post boldly calling
the Home Minister untruthful, it would be rather interesting and meaningful to
explore possible ramifications as well as the underlying concept of the
proposed Supra State body.
Supra
State Body
According to the report published by the Seven Sisters
Post about the negotiation between New Delhi and NSCN-IM, the pan-Naga Supra
State body was drawn up by New Delhi in response to NSCN-IM’s persistent demand
for integration of Naga inhabited areas under a single political entity to be
called Nagalim (greater Nagaland). NSCN-IM leadership put their demand in this
way.
It is the position of the NSCN that the present
so-called state of Nagaland comprises only portion of Nagaland and that more
realistic boundaries should be agreed upon that enable the Naga areas to be
integrated within one administrative entity. The portions of Nagaland which are
situated in present day Myanmar will not form part of the present negotiations.
Response of the Indian negotiators: Under law
boundaries of State can be altered only after taking into consideration the
views of the concerned State Legislators. The views of the Government of
Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam are very clear in this regard. Therefore,
it would not be possible to concede to the demand in the absence of political
consensus from all concerned. Therefore, NSCN (IM) may think of ‘second best’
if the ‘best’ in their view is not possible. Possible autonomy of Naga areas
without altering the boundaries of the State’s concerned so that in many
matters, the representatives of the hill areas may administer the subjects in
their charge along with a supra State body for the Nagas for their cultural,
social and customary practices may be discussed. This pan-Naga Supra State body
will be in the recognition of the distinct identity of the Nagas.
It is clear that NSCN-IM leadership have been
demanding physical integration of the Nagas against which New Delhi is offering
some sort of cultural unification of the Nagas through the proposed Supra State
body.
NSCN-IM leadership have not made any official comment
on the proposed Supra State body. At the same time, New Delhi has not yet
disclosed any details about the functions and operational mode of the pan-Naga
(cultural) body. As of now, what we understand is that the proposed Supra State
body would administer the Nagas of Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh in
their cultural, social and customary practices. The Supra State body will not
have the power to oversee the security aspect of the Naga inhabited areas
(beyond the present State of Nagaland). The report published by the Seven
Sisters Post states “Law and order and police will entirely be the call of the
concerned State Governments but the Supra State body will advise the concerned
State agencies on the implementation of different projects in the Naga areas”.
The obvious implication of this arrangement, if it is
true, is that Nagas of Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh would have
political affiliation to the respective State Governments while at the same
time their cultural, social and customary practices would be governed by the
Supra State body based outside the States. This would create not only a dicey
situation but also breed a serious dilemma among the Nagas of Manipur, Assam
and Arunachal Pradesh. And we are not sure if this arrangement would be
welcomed by the Nagas living outside Nagaland. Instead of the present single
authority of which they are subjects, Nagas would be made subjects of two
separate authorities –– the concerned State Governments and a pervasive Supra
State body. In fact, the Supra State body is a bold initiative of the
Government of India to arrive at an honourable solution after 13 years of peace
talk with NSCN-IM but we cannot help asking if politics, culture and social
practices can ever be separated as intended by the Supra State body.
First, let’s appreciate the positive aspect of the
proposed body. It is true that granting rights to ethnic groups, such as the
Nagas, can ensure their domination. The present proposal goes beyond the form
of federalism and consociationalism prevalent in India for the establishment of
multiethnic states. The earlier approach supports ethnic pluralism,while the
final position, integration, foresees its decline with the gradual building of
social and cultural cohesion. The present proposal or position in the form of a
supra body is strongly advocated in the United Kingdom, where multiculturalism
was officially abandoned in 2004 due to its perceived effect as ethnically divisive,
in favor of policies concerned with community cohesion ad integration. In other
words, the United Kingdom was already experimenting with the idea of supra
body. Here, integration is seen as encompassing the goals of ethnic equality
and ethnic interaction, with strong concern over ethnic groups that lead
parallel and separated lives.
However, the problem is, India is not United Kingdom.
The latter is a unitary state, meaning to say that the Government of United
Kingdom directly deals with the ethnic minorities, formulates and implements
the policies directly. In the case of India, as much as New Delhi or the Nagas
desires, the State Governments can never be bypassed. This has been clearly
admitted by New Delhi. Moreover, the case of United Kingdom relates more with
immigrant population, not the natives. Finally, one is yet to assess the
achievements of such a policy even in the case of UK.
In the context of the proposed supra body, one is
reminded of the dual administration of Manipur during British colonialism after
the Anglo-Manipur War of 1891, which was characterised by separation between
political-economy and culture and religion. The former was an absolute realm of
the British (including the administration of the hill areas) wherein the King
of Manipur did not have any say. The latter, that is, culture and religion, was
a domain of the native ruler. We are familiar with the chaotic situation that ensued,
which in fact planted the seeds of separation between the valley people and the
hills.Thus, one can even go to the extent that the proposed supra body is not a
new one but a revisit of colonial policies. Coming to the present understanding
of “the political”, political theories ranging from the varied liberal
tradition to the Marxist including critical theory as well the subaltern, denies the separation
between politics and culture. In either way, culture has to form a part of the
politics or politics has to take into account the cultural stratum. Any
political or administrative policy, which calls for a dichotomy between the two
is likely to result in collision of authority (State Government versus the
Supra State body) without bringing any benefits to the
stakeholders. The idea of the supra body instead of bringing desired results,
say ending the vexed Naga issue, is bound to generate rounds of conflict in the
North East.
This article was published in The Sangai Express on Sunday, November 27, 2011
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