Naga National Council

In April 1945, the deputy commissioner of the Naga Hills District, C. R. Pawsey, established the Naga Hills District Tribal Council as a forum of the various Naga groups in the district. This body replaced an earlier organization called Naga Club, and in February 1946, it was reorganized as a political organization called Naga National Council (NNC). NNC's objective was to work out the terms of relationship with the Government of India after the British withdrawal. == Organization ==

The president of the NNC was T. Aliba Imti Ao. He was the son of an Imtilepden of Lonjang village, he was the first teacher amongst the Nagas and also served as a pastor. Imti Ao was a graduate from St. Edmund's College, Shillong and had been the secretary of the Hills Students' Federation, an affiliate of the All India Students Federation (AISF). The joint secretary of the NNC was T. Sakhrie, an Angami. NNC had two central councils, one each at Kohima and Mokokchung. Each central council was split into a number of tribal councils, which were further split into sub-tribal councils. Generally, a sub-tribal council was formed with five villages. Members were not elected, but chosen by the NNC leadership. The Kohima Central Council consisted of 12 members, of whom seven belonged to the Angami tribe. It was presided over by a Liangmei school teacher of Kohima. The Mokokchung Central Council had 15 members, of whom five were Ao, four Sema, three Lotha, two Sangtam, and one Chang. The Konyaks had not attended the first meeting of the council, and were not represented. There was no representation from the unadministered area. == Demand for autonomy ==

In a memorandum presented to the British Government in June 1945, the NNC demanded an autonomous status for the Naga region. When the report of the 1946 Cabinet Mission to India was published, NNC passed a resolution on 19 June 1946 at Wokha in Mokokchung division. It stated that it was against grouping of Assam in Bengal, and wanted the Naga Hills District to be included in an autonomous Assam in the independent India. It further emphasized local autonomy for the Naga Hills District, and a separate electorate for the Naga tribes. In November 1946, Gopinath Bordoloi, the Premier of Assam visited the district. The Nagas respected the Assamese politicians like Gopinath Bordoloi and Bimala Prasad Chaliha, and showed cordiality to Bordoloi in November 1946. In February 1947, the NNC council passed a resolution at Kohima. As a result of this resolution, on 20 February 1947, it submitted a proposal for interim Government of Nagas, under a "Guardian Power" for a period of ten years. They didn't explicitly state who the "Guardian Power" should be (Government of India, the Provincial Government or His Majesty's Government). In June 1947, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru wrote to the Naga National Council (NNC) secretary, T. Sakhrie, saying that the Indian government is against the separate electorates, as they "limit and injure the small group by keeping it separated from rest of the nation." Talks with the Bordoloi subcommittee In 1947, the Bordoloi subcommittee of the Constituent Assembly came to Kohima for discussions with the Naga leaders. The Kohima Central Council of NNC was reluctant to nominate a person for co-option to the Bordoloi subcommittee. The Bordoloi subcommittee was constituted with Mayangnokcha Ao as a member, but he did not accept the position. Hence, Aliba was taken in his place. When the subcommittee reached Kohima, NNC did not have a permanent president. The committee had received a list of organizations to be interviewed from the deputy commissioner Pawsey, but Pawsey himself was away. Kevichüsa Angami, the senior extra assistant commissioner at Kohima, acted as the guardian angel of the NNC. The secretary of the subcommittee observed: The non-Naga groups of Dimapur were also presented before the subcommittee, and spoke against the NNC. The subcommittee did not visit the other subdivision, Mokokchung. The Bordoloi report was vetoed by the Angami member, Kezehol, but accepted by the Sema member, Khetloushe. Khetloushe replaced Kezehol, when the latter resigned during the last meeting of the subcommittee. The Bordoloi subcommittee concluded that "many of them (Naga leaders) were inclined to take moderate views on the lines of the original resolution passed at Wokha, but in view of the intransigence of certain other members, probably of the Angami group, they were prevented from doing so." Nine-Points Agreement Aliba Imti continued to strive for a settlement between the Government and the NNC members. As a result of his efforts, on 26 June 1947, Sir Muhammad Saleh Akbar Hydari, the Governor of Assam, reached a Nine-Points Agreement with the Naga leaders. It was decided that the Nagas would be granted judicial, executive and legislative powers, as well as autonomy in land-related matters. There was a ten-year guarantee of these provisions at the end of which the Nagas could choose between extending the agreement or a new agreement. The Naga leaders were also promised unification of Naga territories from nearby districts into the Naga Hills District. However, the Constituent Assembly refused to ratify the Hydari accord. The Naga leaders envisaged a sovereign state with India as a "Guardian Power" for ten years, while the Indian Constituent Assembly concluded that the Nine Points Agreement guaranteed only a "district autonomy within the Indian Constitution". == Rise of Phizo and the secessionist ideology ==

Until 1949, the hardline Naga leader Angami Zapu Phizo did not have an important role in NNC. He led a separate organisation called People's Independence League, working towards a demand of independence. He met the Assamese, Garos, Khasis, Lushais, Abors, Mishmis and Meiteis leaders in an attempt to convince them to form independent countries of their own, instead of joining the Union of India. However, his efforts failed. In July 1947, as Phizo had set out to take a delegation to Delhi to meet national leaders, the Deputy Commissioner Pawsey sent a telegram, via Governor Hydari, stating that they represent an "unimportant minority" and that they should be ignored. Perhaps the telegram arrived too late, the delegation did meet Gandhi and stated their intention to declare independence. According to one version, Gandhi is said to have replied, "I feel that Naga Hills is mine just as it is yours. But if you say that it is not mine, the matter must stop there... If you do not wish to join the Union of India nobody will force you to that." The NNC secretary T. Sakhrie had expressed fears in a letter to Gandhi that the Indian government might use military force to occupy the Naga territory by force. Gandhi assured the Naga delegation that he would go to Kohima, and he would be "the first to be shot before any Naga is killed". Several of the Naga people inhabited the territory outside the region in which NNC was active. Also, the bulk of the educated Naga people worked outside the region, and the Indian Government had banned its employees from participating in the plebiscite. The Indian Government and the Government of Assam rejected the result. Phizo met Nehru in December 1951 near Tezpur in Assam, in March 1952 at Delhi, and in July 1952 at Dibrugarh. He was arrested in Burma for illegal entry. The first Indian general elections were held in 1952, which were boycotted by the separatist leaders. NNC's Vice President Isak Chishi Swu and General Secretary Thuingaleng Muivah denounced the Accord, calling it a "complete sellout of the Naga rights". Subsequently, in 1980, a faction led by Isak, Muivah and SS Khaplang broke away from NNC to form the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN), which continued the secessionist activities. == Notes ==