Abstract
The following two chapters address the tumultuous struggles of the Nagas, covering the period up to 2019. Their saga begins even before the British colonised India, and for the purposes of this volume we have divided their narrative into two parts. This chapter accounts for the period of British rule and early post-independence, almost up to the 1970s, notably the term of the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru. He had much to do with Nagaland until his demise in 1964.
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Notes
- 1.
In 1941, during the period of governing directly from Whitehall, this plan had failed to receive due attention. It was reviewed in 1946 by Sir Reginald Coupland, a British constitutional expert, and became known as the Coupland Plan. Having acknowledged the services of the Nagas in World Wars I and II, Sir Reginald evaluated the earlier proposal and re-proposed the plan. It ‘envisaged [that] the Government of India and Burma would have a treaty with British Government to share the responsibility for the Naga-inhabited areas as “Trust Territory”’. However, this was rejected by the Nagas and they demanded that the ‘British must quit’; it was also not agreed [upon] by Sir Andrew Clow… Moreover, the Labour Party in England [too] did not want to retain the colony (Kotwal 2000; Syiemlieh 2014; Tohring 2010, 33).
- 2.
Vide the memo 490/C-Shillong. H.E. the Governor of Assam and the premier of Assam (Memo No. 88-c/47-570-72).
- 3.
The full speech can be read at http://www.neuenhofer.de/guenter/nagaland/phizo.html
- 4.
This Act was enacted to provide legal safeguards to the armed forces of Assam Rifles and Assam Armed Police, who were deployed to control the Indo-Naga conflict that emerged in the 1950s in the Naga Hills of undivided Assam.
- 5.
Assam Act XIX of 1955: The Assam Disturbed Areas Act, 1955. Retrieved on 11 April 2019 from, https://legislative.assam.gov.in/sites/default/files/swf_utility_folder/departments/legislative_medhassu_in_oid_3/menu/document/The%20Assam%20Disturbed%20Area%20Act%2C%201955.pdf
- 6.
During World War II, Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the Indian nationalist movement, launched a mass rebellion across the nation, demanding withdrawal of the British regime from India (James 1997).
- 7.
The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, Act No. 28 of 1958 [11th September 1958]
- 8.
Report of the Committee to Review the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, 2005. Retrieved from, http://notorture.ahrchk.net/profile/india/ArmedForcesAct1958.pdf.
- 9.
Fifth Report: Second Administrative Reforms Commission-Public Order, Government of India. Retrieved from, http://darpg.gov.in/sites/default/files/public_order5.pdf.
- 10.
Hegde Commission submits report on Manipur extrajudicial killings, Human Rights Law Network. Retrieved from, http://www.hrln.org/hrln/criminal-justice/reports/1501-santosh-hegde-commission-submitsreport-onmanipur-extra-judicial-killings.html#ixzz4Kh7zdWJ6.
- 11.
The full text of the memorandum is accessible at Naga National Council, Urra-Nagaland. Retrieved on 27 April 2019 from, http://naganationalcouncil.org/the%20Fate%20of%20the%20Naga%20People.html
- 12.
The Tuensang Division geo-spatially located at an average elevation of 4498 feet (1371 metres) above mean sea level was carved out of the North East Frontier Agency (NEFA).
- 13.
The 16 Point Agreement was agreed upon between the Government of India and the Naga People’s Convention. Retrieved on 27 April 2019 from, https://peacemaker.un.org/sites/peacemaker.un.org/files/IN_600726_The%20sixteen%20point%20Agreement_0.pdf
- 14.
The Parliament of India promulgated The Constitution (thirteenth Amendment) Act, 1962 on 28 December 1962
- 15.
Later on, it became the State of Nagaland Act, 1962. It became operational on 12 December 1963. The full text of this Act can be accessed at The State of Nagaland Act, 1962. Retrieved on 28 April 2019 from, http://legislative.gov.in/sites/default/files/A1962-27.pdf
- 16.
The State of Nagaland Act, 1962. Lawyerslaw.org. Retrieved on 28 April 2019 from, https://lawyerslaw.org/the-state-of-nagaland-act-1962/
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Bhattacharyya, R., Pulla, V. (2020). Nagas: A Bitter Past—From British Period to Nehru. In: Pulla, V., Bhattacharyya, R., Bhatt, S. (eds) Discrimination, Challenge and Response. Mapping Global Racisms. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46251-2_7
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