Naga Accord: Greater autonomy, the last word?
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: November 06 2019 -

It has been quite some days since Manipur has been enveloped by an atmosphere of anxiety, fear and uncertainty.

While the Central Government is busy giving final touches to the Naga Accord, a large number of people in the State of Manipur have been living through a political nightmare.

According to media reports, NSCN-IM had agreed to sign a final peace deal on the Government of India’s offer for a ‘conditional’ separate flag which must be used only in non-Governmental purposes.

It would be worth remembering that NSCN-IM entered into a political dialogue with the Government of India with complete independence of Naga people as the primary agenda.

Over the years, the Naga outfit had scaled down their demand from a sovereign State to shared sovereignty and integration of Naga inhabited areas under Greater Nagalim, and ultimately to greater autonomy for Naga people.

NSCN-IM was also demanding separate passport, separate flag and separate constitution.

It seemed the idea of shared sovereignty vanished into thin air after the Government of India rejected the demands for separate constitution and separate flag.

Of course, New Delhi made a concession allowing the Nagas to use a flag of their own only for non-governmental purposes.

The demand for physical integration of Naga inhabited areas has also been struck down.

As for the separate passport, media reports say that the Nagas have agreed to use Indian passports with minor modifications.

Now greater autonomy is the only one left alive of all the original demands put forward by NSCN-IM.

Frankly speaking this observation is based on what have been reported in media about the 22 years old political dialogue.

We don’t know if many more things are there behind the scene.

Now the moot question is, greater autonomy to what degree and of what shape.

It has been already reported in media that autonomous councils would be formed in Naga dominated areas of Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh under the Naga Accord which is yet to be formally signed.

Not only Nagas but Kukis are also already enjoying a certain level of autonomy in the hill districts of Manipur.

Granting greater autonomy to a particular community at the cost of millennia-old geo-political entity called Manipur would be disastrous.

The Government of India must be aware that the protagonists of united Manipur have made it clear that they will oppose any form of demand like the pan-Naga cultural, provincial, territorial council or financial autonomy or ethnic administrative division.

At the same time, Kuki people are also not happy with the idea of any special treatment to the Nagas at the cost of their own interests.

If Manipur is seen as comprising of two geographical divisions viz; hills and valley, separation of Nagas and Kukis for any special treatment to either of them would be highly problematic for they settle together in the hills of Manipur.

New Delhi must keep in mind that there is no (hill) district in Manipur which is exclusively inhabited by either Nagas or Kukis.

If greater autonomy is granted to the Nagas by way of extending Article 371A or under some other arrangements to the neighbouring States of Nagaland, Manipur may not break apart but the Government of Manipur’s administrative authority within its own territory would be severely undermined.

What we fear the most is not curtailment of Government’s administrative authority but sharp polarisation of communities.

If Article 371A is extended to Manipur in favour of some particular communities, the particular communities would be literally living outside the purview of the Government of Manipur while residing within the territory of Manipur, and this will have adverse impacts on the socio-economic and cultural relations shared since ages among the different indigenous communities of the land.

At the end, we cannot help asking if the large number of central paramilitary forces stationed and deployed at Imphal is any indication of Centre’s willingness to grant greater autonomy to the Naga people.