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The Rediff Special/ Subir Ghosh

What Nagaland doesn't need is a Neroesque politician

The tragedy of the Naga political movement has been the annihilation of Nagas by Nagas themselves.

The Nagas have remained cleaved along various schools of thought. Between radicals and moderates (from the killing of Theyieu Sakhrie to that of Kaito Sema) among the insurrectionists themselves. Also between those underground and those overground (from the killing of Imkongliba Ao to that of the Kevichusa brothers).

And somewhere complicating all these delicate equations and rendering all calculations awry are the perennial inter-tribe schisms. Exploiting all these to the hilt are politicians, giving all internecine killings a tribal hue. The blight continues.

The killing of National Socialist Council of Nagaland general secretary Dali Mungro by rival National Socialist Council of Nagalim cadres is more than a personal calamity for his wife Khutoli. It signals the elevation of the pyrrhic war between the two organisations to a new plane. Till now, only lower level cadres were falling to each other's bullets. With this, the latter group has ensured that the circle has come full after 11 years. It all began with the abortive bid on the life of the then general secretary of the undivided NSCN, Thuingaleng Muivah.

Speculation over unity bids suffering a jolt in the process do not cut much ice. Anyone imagining Isak Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah shaking hands with Shang Nu Shangwang Khaplang and merging into one organisation would be stretching their imagination too far. Swu-Muivah and Khaplang did not part ways on differences over the means and the ends. These were points that could have been thrashed out over the table. The parting of ways, in case one needs to be reminded, was essentially bloody. To expect Swu-Muivah to forget the 1988 massacre of over 200 of his men would be asking too much. One cannot expect Khaplang to come back to the other two either for pretty much the same reason.

Unity measures had never taken off. Appeals from the Naga Hoho, the Church and other non-governmental organisations about ending fratricidal clashes were heeded only in name. There is too much hatred involved for either to stop gunning for the other. During the heady insurgency days, keeping track of the headcount in the inter-NSCN battle was difficult. It became easier after the cease-fire agreement between the Indian government and Swu-Muivah in August 1997.

According to figures furnished by the army, altogether 140 armed clashes have been reported between the two factions, 314 Nagas have been killed by fellow Nagas, 237 persons have been abducted and 450 cadres reported to have defected from one group to another. Statistics do reveal a lot.

Gory times become murky given inter-tribe twists. Mungro's killing is being portrayed as the slaying of an Ao leader by members of certain anti-Ao tribes. Chief Minister S C Jamir, an Ao, has always been against the NSCN (Swu-Muivah). When a bus-load of Kukis were massacred by its cadres in Nagaland towards 1996 end, he promptly described it as an act of elements from Manipur.

Incidentally, Muivah is a Tangkhul from Manipur's Ukhrul district and Tangkhuls are a substantial lot in the NSCN (Swu-Muivah). Jamir, the sole surviving signatory to the 1960 16-point agreement which spoke about the possibility of all Naga-inhabited areas coming under one administrative head, is today against it. His abhorrence of Naga tribes from other states, particularly the Tangkhuls from contiguous areas in Manipur, is well known.

Given this backdrop, the charges heaped on Mungro by the NSCN (Swu-Muivah) are serious. Mungro was accused of being hand-in-glove with Jamir in scuttling more of Khaplang's cadres from crossing over to their side. Mungro, who played a bloody role in the 1988 massacre, was alleged to have been planning to assassinate Swu and Muivah during their recent visit to Dimapur. Allegations of a Jamir-NSCN (Khaplang) nexus is not new. The Nagaland chief minister has been time and again accused by Swu-Muivah of nipping unity moves in the bud and using the Khaplang faction to wreck the ongoing peace negotiations.

It was the Swu-Muivah group that, understandably, maintained a hardline approach on unity moves. They denied the existence of the Khaplang faction and insisted that theirs was the real NSCN and that no factions existed. Their decision after the meeting with various sections of Naga society in Niuland in April-May to grant a general amnesty for 45 days to other outfits had an objective.

It was meant to wean away fence-sitters from the Khaplang fold. The latter has been suffering a slow but steady erosion in its ranks in the last two-three years. A year-and-a-half ago, Khaplang's deputy commander-in-chief Kakiho switched over and alleged that the Mungro-Jamir duo were the villains of the piece, and that Khaplang himself was unaware of the goings-on.

Now, the Khaplang faction is overshadowed by the Swu-Muivah group throughout Nagaland except Mon and parts of Tuensang district. On part of the latter, it has been their misfortune that the Konyak tribe (the largest tribe among the Nagas) is almost unrepresented in their organisation. Not without reason -- the Konyaks have stayed with Khaplang since the NSCN split. And this, despite the fact that Khaplang is from the other side of the border -- Burma. Khaplang's credibility lies here -- he is from a community that is split across the frontiers of two nations.

His Burmese origins have come in handy on other counts too. Khaplang was able to maintain the old camps the NSCN had on that side of the border. He did not have to make any claims on the Naga-inhabited areas of Manipur and Assam. Hence, the powerful Manipuri organisations like the United National Liberation Front and the Revolutionary People's Front did not detest him the way they are dead against the Swu-Muivah NSCN. Mungro's killing has been condemned in strong terms by these Manipuri organisations. The show of solidarity has also come from the United Liberation Front of Asom and the Tripura People's Democratic Front.

The battle lines are being drawn slowly but surely. Tempers have been simmering for more than two years now. Everyone knows who is on whose side. Most of those who are not with the Khaplang side are with Swu-Muivah and company. The National Liberation Front of Twipra and the National Democratic Front of Boroland are perceived to be closer to the latter. All the situation needs (or rather, it doesn't) is its ignition by a Neroesque politician choosing to play the fiddle while the Northeast burns.

The Rediff Specials

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