Bela Bhatia (“Justice Denied to Tribals in the Hill Districts of Manipur”, 31 July) in her indignation over the Nagas not receiving a fair deal has overlooked certain complexities that must be taken into account in suggesting a resolution of the problem. It will be wrong and dangerous to try to solve the Naga question by simply siding with the Nagas and sharing only their perceptions.
Does the author know that on the Nagaland-Assam border, several times and twice with shocking sanguinary excess, miscreants” from Nagaland gunned down scores of people on the Assam side of the boundary, in order to “reclaim” for their “homeland”the territory they claim as their own?
Will she acknowledge that on 14 August, so-called natives of Arunachal Pradesh burnt down houses and chased away Assamese citizens, who cannot be called alien intruders into Arunachal, thereby generating tension along the border? That such “border skirmishes” in the north-east have been the result of bumbling policies of Delhi?
Does Bhatia know that the present territory of Nagaland includes a huge stretch of the medieval southern Bodo kingdom with its capital in Dimapur still containing ruins from the past? Will the Nagas cede that part of Nagaland?
Does she know that the Meiteis (Manipuris) regard themselves as well as an oppressed nation, and that they are locked in an unwinnable bloody confl ict with Indian forces? Should they be further embittered by gifting away the greater part of the land area of Manipur, an area that had not been lumped by the British into Manipur but was conquered by Manipuri kings to whom certain Naga chieftains submitted at a time, when Naga nationhood was not even a distant dream?
Does Bhatia know that in Ahom Tai chronicles from medieval times there are factual records of Naga tribes having been conquered or won over by Ahom kings to become their subjects? In fact, at that time “head-hunting” was common among Naga tribes frequently at war with one another and that there had not even been something like the Iroquois confederacy of North America?
Does she know that the unity of the Naga nation now scattered over different states and countries is a recent phenomenon, and for a long time in history the Naga nation did not have a territorial state and neighbouring peoples with territorial states had expanded long ago into areas where Nagas were resident? Therefore, will it not be anachronistic and revanchist to claim back such areas with ultimatums?
I am not asserting in any case that legitimate and realistic Naga demands need not be considered or that their sufferings under the Manipur government should be swept under the carpet. I admire their sturdy courage and independence of spirit. But I also think that they should not expect to get away with demands that disturb and deeply offend many of their neighbours. Further there should also be some investigation into shadowy imperialist machinations and intrigue in the field complicating matters.
Like the Kurds and a few other peoples of the world the Nagas are the victims of history and the tangle cannot be unraveled in haste at one’s will.
Hiren Gohain
Guwahati
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