1

INTRODUCTION

Separatism, which has become a widely discussed term all over the world,

may be referred to as a situation where people of a particular region on the

basis of religion, culture, language, self identification and self reservation

etc start demanding a separation from the nation of which they are actually

a part of. The demands, which are generally put forward, may be of a

political autonomy, demand of a separate state or demand of an

independent sovereign state (Alexseev,2008:450).

Secessionism means a situation where a group totally withdraws its

territory from the authority of the state of which they are a part of and

demand of a separate sovereign nation (Misra, 2001:51)

The following table enlists the demands of separatism and

secessionism in different countries of the world (both past & present)

NAME OF COUNTRY SEPARTIST/SECCESSIONIST

MOVEMENT

Canada Quebec

China Tibet & Zing Ziang

Russia Chechnya

Turkey Kurds

Pakistan Baluchistan

Great Britain Northern Ireland

Former Soviet Union Latvia, Estonia & Lithuania

Former Yugoslavia Kosovo, Crotia, Bosnia & Slovania

Georgia Abkhazia & South Ossetia

Indonesia East Timor & Haceh

Mexico Chiapas

Nigeria Biafra

Ethiopia Eritrea

United States Confederacy

India Kashmir, Naga, Bodo, Punjab, Tamil

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From the above table it may be derived that the separatist and

secessionist movements are not only prevalent in the under developed or

the developing nations but have also been a part of the developed

economies. Here it could be stated that the economy and the demands of

separatism or secessionism are not proportional to each other as the

world’s greatest economy US has also such problems prevailing within the

territory.

The European Countries always vested upon violence as tool in

order to suppress separatist movements which they further carried to their

colonies. This technique was then followed by the colonies when they

faced such problems within their territory (Chandhoke,2005:7-11)

Many of the South Asian countries after gaining their independence

from the imperialist powers faced the problems of separatism by various

ethnic groups. At first they resorted to a mixed policy of negotiation as

well arms in order to curb the menace but gradually they shifted to

violence as an instrument to fight with such problems

(Shadevena,1999:NP).

State has tried to settle the ethnic uprisings by providing regional

autonomy and federal structure but these methods could not resolve the

issues. Talking about India in this regard the political elite were busy

framing up constitution of the state and hence the ethnic groups and their

demands were sidelined at that time. This inculcated a feeling of

resentment among them resulting into separatist movements (Encyclopedia

of Britannia,1993:285).

India stands for unity in diversity where different ethnic groups like

Tamils, Sikhs, Kashmiris, Tripuris, Telugus, Bengalis, Nagas, Garos,

Mizos, Meetis, Marathas and Karbi etc have been accommodated. Many of

the ethnic groups adopted peaceful as well as violent movements against

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Indian Union in order to demand for a political autonomy for their

respective homelands. They also demanded a separate statehood within and

outside the Indian Union. India being newly Independent country always

had an approach of uniting the different ethnic as well as regional

communities in order to construct a strong nation (Encyclopedia of Third

World,1992:807).

Simultaneously with the drafting of the Constitution India was

occupied in the process state reorganization commission in which a

provision of 29 sates has been recognized till date.

According to Census of India 2011 there are 600 ethnic communities

in India out which 200 are settled in the North-East parts of India. North

east India comprises of 8% of the land under the India Union. The North-

East known as 7 sister states with population of 27 million of people

comprising of Assam, Tripura, Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, Arunachal

Pradesh and Mizoram. Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram were earlier a part

of Union Territories but at present they enjoy full statehood status. Each

tribe is unique in its own manner in regards to culture, history, traditions,

language and values. The north-east population is divided into three

categories based on their geographical location namely- Hill tribes and

Plane tribes (Census of India, 2011)

The societal set up is both patriarchal and matriarchal. There are

also five different categories of races in the region namely- The

Dravidians, The Aryans, The Negroids, The Kiratas and The Austrics.

Naga belonged to the Negroids and they descended from China and at

present they are settled in Nagaland, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur

and areas bordering Burma (Shadevena,1999N:P)

Nagas comprises of about 33 tribes and 16 major tribes the number

of which may vary according to different scholarly findings. Ao, Lotha,

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Angami, Sema, Chakesang and Koniacs etc are among the major tribes of

Nagaland (Singh, 1992:51)

Nagaland is also called as the mother of all the insurgency in the

north-east areas because they were the first ones to raise a demand of

sovereignty. They raised their demands way back in the last years of the

British Colonialism only and the demands were sharpened in the post-

colonial era will has not been resolved till date. This has also provoked

many other insurgent movements in the region. India is blamed to be

ignoring these areas in context of socio-economic development which has

also proved to be one of the reasons in promoting such movements. The

sense of being sidelined has also promoted separatism among the people of

Naga. Actual importance of the area was counted during the war of 1962

with china when it was realised for the first time that the area is

strategically very important from the security point of view. Here the

Government of India realised the seriousness of the Naga insurgency and

was declared s a separate state of Nagaland in 1963. Earlier the community

was not tackled seriously as the Government considered it as a movement

of a handful of people. Still this political settlement of separate statehood

could not resolve the issue. This may be attributed to the major blunder

committed at the time of bordering the state by the union government as a

large number of the Naga tribes were left out of the boundaries of the

newly formed Nagaland. These tribes are now a part of Manipur, Assam

and Arunachal Pradesh. This has given rise to the demand of greater

Nagaland so that all these left out tribes may come under single

administration. First ceasefire agreement was signed between Union

Government of India and Naga National Council in 1964. This agreement

clearly states that the Government was not able to suppress the insurgents

as they had to sign the ceasefire agreement just within one year of

declaration of Nagaland as a state. Phizo played a prominent role in

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amplifying the demand of Sovereign Naga Nation. The Union Government

was mistaken that they could resolve the issue by enforcing Armed Force

Special Power Act in Assam in 1958 which on the contrary further fanned

the movement (Kaur,2006:178).

There have been several attempts made by the Government of India

from time to time in order to pacify the separatists as 9 Point Agreement,

6th Schedule in the Constitution of India, 16 Point Agreement, Article 371

A, Shillong Accord and about 81 peace talks till date. But none of these

efforts has proved to be permanent solution of problem (Dhar,1998:20).

In nutshell it could be assumed that the violent methods of the

Government have further aggravated the situation hence this problem of

the region could only be resolved with peaceful negotiations and it would

be an exemplary move for the other separatist movements prevailing within

the north-east India.

SEPARATIST GROUPS IN NORTH EAST INDIA

State Name of group Year of Formation

Nagaland

a. Naga National Council. (NNC)

b. National Socialist Council of

Nagaland. (NSCN)

c. National Socialist Council of

Nagaland. (S.S Khaplang) (NSCN-

K)

d. National Socialist Council of

Nagaland Unification. (NSCN-U)

February 2, 1946.

January 31, 1980.

April 30, 1988.

November 23, 2007.

Assam

A. United Liberation Front of Assam.

(ULFA)

B. National Democratic Front of

Bodoland. (NDFB)

C. Bodoland Liberation Tigers. (BLT)

April 7, 1979.

October 3, 1986.

June 18, 1996.

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Manipur

A. United National Liberation Front.

(UNLF)

B. People Liberation Army. (PLA)

C. People Revolutionary party of

Kangleipak. (PREPAK)

D. Kangleipak Communist Party.

(KCP)

E. Kanglei Yawal Kanna Lup.

(KYKL)

F. People United Liberation Front.

(PULF)

November 24, 1964.

September 25, 1978.

October 9, 1977.

April 13, 1980.

January 18, 1994.

May 3, 1993.

Mizoram

A. Mizo National Front. (MNF)

B. Bru National Liberation Front.

(BNLF)

C. Hamar People’s Convention

Democracy. (HPCD)

October 22, 1961.

1996.

1986.

Tripura

A. Tribal National Volunteers. (TNV)

B. All Tripura Tiger Force. (ATTF)

C. The National Front of Tripura.

(NFT)

1978.

July 11, 1990.

March 12, 1989.

Meghalaya

A. Hynniewtrep Achik Liberation

Council. (HALC)

B. Achik Matgrik Liberation Army.

(AMLA)

C. Peoples Liberation Front of

Meghalaya. (PLFM)

D. Liberation of Achik Elite Force.

(LAEF)

1995.

1993.

2000.

2005.

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Review of Literature

This section is devoted to review the various studies related to the

North-East region in general and Nagas in particular. A review of such

studies is required as it helps the researcher in acquiring the knowledge

and more importantly in specifying the research gaps. Numbers of studies

in the forms of books as well as articles are available on problem of the

North-east region in general and Nagas in particular. However, none of

these studies is complete in itself. They fall short in one way or the other.

Mao (1992) conducted a study to discuss the political, social and

historical process of the Nagas. In his study author indicates that there is a

difference between the way of life of Naga people and the people living in

plain. He also discusses the relation of Naga people with the British. He

also tried to focus on the reason, which contributed for unrest among

Nagas. The change has been seen in the traditional Naga political system

due to the modernization of political system. He found that such type of

cultural changes affected the Naga culture, customs, tradition and their

political system.

Asoso Yonuo(1974) in his study gave a detail description of

development in Naga’s political, social and economic system. For the

purpose of his study author applied the historical approach. In his study

author examined the relationship of Nagas with the Assamies and Manipuri

tribes and also put focus on how British entered Naga tribes and to what

extent they faced resistance especially from the Angami Naga tribes

because Angami Nagas were considered as one of the ferocious tribe

people. They were compared with other tribes of Naga Hilss. Author has

put more focus on the fact that with the feeling of separatism Naga people

under the leadership of A.Z Phizo took violent secessionist path to get

Nagaland as a sovereign state. In his book a detail study of peace talks and

8

negotiations has been made and this book contributed a lot in the literature

of political science.

Hokiishe Sema(1986) focused on the earlier history of the Naga

that was before the entry of British. What was the state of nature being

animist because Nagas had many gods and how animist break away with

the missionaries entered in the Naga Hills. How missionaries won the heart

of the Naga people by using Christian revolution as tools. Author points

out the role played by the political elite while dealing with Naga issue. The

author himself is a Sema Naga from Nagaland. So, one can understand

from his work that how Naga reacted his will against Indian Government.

B.B Gosh(1982) in his work used the historical approach to study

the living style of Naga people and how their customs, religion, culture and

tradition changed from earlier to present time and how the elder Nagas

reacted against the development of Christianity in their areas. Apart from

this how political life of Naqga people is influenced by the entry of the

British.

B.G Verghese (2002) in his study found out the reasons of

insurgency in North-East India. According to him, the North East area was

isolated from the rest of India for many years and the feeling of isolation

created the feeling of separate identity. He focused on the Bado movement

and traced different reasons for the demand of separate Bado land. Caste

system in Assam is emerged as one of the important determinant. Author

also highlight that how Christian missionaries encourage the Naga people

to demand of for separate sovereign state. He emphasized that earlier Naga

loyalty was toward their tribes but after world war I and World war II

loyalty of Naga shifted from tribes to a state.

Singh Chandrika (1981) highlights the political development,

which took place among Naga people from colonial period and post

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colonial period. He discussed how Nagaland was created as 16 th State in

1963. According to him, political settlement became political problem for

the Indian Government. He was of the view that Union Government of

India believed that once separate state for Naga was established it would

solve the Naga problem. Bu instead of solving problem the creation of

Nagaland state has created more problems for India.

Nibedon (1983) has made a unique work on the Naga secessionist

movement and Nagas underground links with external powers like China,

Pakistan, and Burma. He elaborated how far underground elements were

succeeded in their mission of arms training and other activities. Apart from

this author also explains the reason of factorial politics in various tribes of

Nagaland.

Chandola the author focuses on the stories of engagement of

political leaders. This study highlights the peace negotiations that took

place in 1964 after the first ceasefire between Delhi and the Naga

underground leader who fought for independence. In most of the peace

negotiations results were failed to bring fruitful solutions because of the

non acceptability form both sides. The study also put focus on the role

played by the Indian bureaucracy in the course of peace agreement. He

critically analyzes the reasons for the breakdown of the peace talks and the

mistakes committed by the Indian Government in its policy toward the

Nagaland.

Horam (1975) conducted a study to put light on various agreements

between union Government India and Nags. Phizo adopted violent method

against the Indian Government to raise demand of separate sovereign

state. Further, he discussed that how the Naga issue become

internationalize and how the traditional Naga polity get changed in

contemporary era.

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Sidra Tariq (2007) conducted a study to examine the regional

prospective and its contemporary prospective in the Nagaland. According

to him North East region has great complexities in his stud6y he concluded

that Governemnt of India needs to take steps to solve the Naga problem.

He also analyzed the role played by the Naga Civil Society and local

community groups to solve the Naga conflict.

Bhamik (1996) in his book titled Insurgent Crossfire :North East

India examines the causes of the origin of insurgencies and how it spread

in South Asia and creates diplomatic environment. Further, he highlight the

major sponsored guerllia movement in South Asia. The author concluded

that ethnicities are the amin cause of insurgent crossfire in the nations such

as Bangladesh, China , India and Pakistan.

Bhaumik (2007) in his study examines that North East India has

been one of the longest insurgency in India. The demand of independent

state was commenced in 1952 and followed by izo rebellin in 1966. Every

state of North East India is affected by the insurgent violence specially

Assam, Manipur, Nagaland and Tripura. He further examined that

Government of India from time to time extended ceasefire agreements and

made efforts to reach at everlasting and worthy solution to the decades old

Naga problem

Horowitz (1985) in his study argues that the formal originated life

reflects the impact of ethnic affiliation besides family and social life; the

ethnic groups are heavily tied to kinship that effectively uses political

structure and provides services which are a good substitute for what the

modern state provides. He further says ethnicity is familitic. Those in

ethnic group recognize each other as kin for many reasons, in fact,

according to the author ethnicity and kinship overlap each other, they are

interdependent. One builds on the other and often the two are

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interchangeable, understood. He outlines the two imperatives of explaining

ethnic conflict, first is the origin and manifestation of raw ethnic

sentiments and the other is how institution can affect the expression of this

sentiment. The three main approaches applied to ethnic conflicts are

modernization theory, economic interest and cultural pluralism, but he says

that social psychological theory cannot be ignored in the study of ethnic

conflict, to take the case of particularly Asia and Africa where the self

esteem of ethnic group is strongly influenced by the comparison of their

group to the others. He concedes that ethnic conflicts arise from the

common evaluated significance, accorded by the groups to the

acknowledged group difference. Further he adds that electoral systems

whish facilitate the formation of ethnic parties, serve to help deepen and

extend pre-existing ethnic conflicts. He opines that political parties to play

their role in society must attempt to serve as combination of interest, and

constituted his theory of ethnic conflicts, relating ethnic affiliation to

kinship and inter group relations to the fear of domination.

Smith (1986) investigates the link between ethnicity and formation

of nations. He discussed that while the revolution of industrial capitalism,

the bureaucratic system, and secular mass education, represent a watershed

in human history, compared to Neolithic transition, they have not

obliterated or rendered obsolete many of cultures and identities, formed in

pre-modern era. They have certainly transformed many of them, others

they destroyed, yet others amalgamated and revived. It is important to

enquire int5o that state of cultural identity of a given community on the

eve of its exposure to the new revolutionary forces, in order to locate the

basis of its subsequent evolution, into a full fledged nation. Smith argued

that subjective factors making day to day fabric of ethnic consciousness are

often recorded and immortalized in arts, language , sciences and law of

community , which thought subject to slower development, leave there

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imprint on the perceptions of subsequent generation and shape the structure

and atmosphere of the community. In this approach to ethnicity, he takes

the position that ethnic competition for state power and state resources is at

the heart of the matter of ethnic group formation. He made a study based

on instrumentalist approach, without going much into primordial

framework. Moreover, he has not discussed role of any external linkages of

the groups in internal conflicts.

Singh (1987) in his study found that major changes have occurred in

all the states of North-Eastern region. According to him the North east is

most complex and difficult than anywhere in the country. The emphasis in

the book is on administrative process. He is also sensitive to specific

nature of the problem of the hill regions, which require very particular

policy initiatives, rather than the heavy –handed laying down of the law,

which has often been characterized by state policy.

Pakam (1990) indicated that the issue of nationality, ethnicity and

cultural identity that assumed a multidimensional importance in view of

the urgent need for economic, social, cultural and political development of

North-East India, regional economic development can be sustained on

rational policy forms and strategies for the achievement of the goal of the

overall development of nationalities, conscious of their distinct identities.

There is no simple mechanical solution to the problem of national

integration for peace, prosperity and development. The author suggests that

issues of national formation should be viewed in proper perspective and the

question of nationality, ethnicity and cultural identity should be

scientifically analyzed.

Brass (1991) has examined the origins of ethnicity and nationalism.

he argues that ethnicity mainly develops when certain category of people

think themselves different from others in certain spheres, the conversion of

13

cultural differences into bases for political differentiation arise only-under

specific circumstances e.g. with elite competition, critical role of

relationships established between the elites and the state, political

mobilization of traditional rural communities, especially through

traditional networks of religions , communities and language ,

modernization and industrialization in large multi-ethnic states tend to

proceed unevenly and benefit some ethnic groups, more than others, which

is the cause of consciousness and communal mobilization of groups. He

specifies language, religion and politics as critical factors, which are used

to build political identities and identity formation takes place through three

sets of struggle; firstly within and ethnic group, secondly within ethnic

groups and thirdly between state and groups. He also mentions that no

regime, even the most authoritarian can avoid, confronting the issues of

power sharing and pluralism in modernizing multi-ethnic societies.

Cannor(1994) conducted a study to distinguish between patriotism

and nationalism. He maintains that ethno nationalism is a loyalty to ones

community which is not disappearing, indeed has never been strong. The

book lauds that the age of nationalism has never ended. It is there

throughout the world. He compares nationalism and patriotism stating that

nationalism is subjective and consists of self identification of people with

groups. Patriotism is an allegiance to the state which is a political not an

ethnic body. He argues that scholars, policy makers have almost unrated

the influence of ethno nationalism and misinterpreted its passionate and

non rational qualities. He objects the assumptions of political scientists

that modernization leads to greater ethnic assimilation. He counters the

comments the comments that modernization brings previously isolated

culture into contact while linking ethnically common but geographically

dispersed people; increased communication and travel are more likely to

differentiate people and increase conflicts. He opines that if the surface of

14

most homogeneous state is scratched, the result will be the surprising

ethnic diversity. His work could also improve important question that

arise, such as what should be more important state unity or the myth of

separatism or can the two myths contained within democracy that respects

both majority rule and minority opinion.

Datta (1995) gives a detailed text of various ‘Peace Accords’ since

1947 signed between the various struggling ethnic groups and the state and

the central Government. It would have been better if the author had

analyzed these Accords in the form of concluding chapters.

Singh (1995) is of the view that Nagaland has a geopolitical

importance of its own. He focuses on the interference by foreign powers

like Pakistan and China in their affairs, their aid to and abetment of the

underground Nagas , which create insurgent situation developing in the

hills. Further the author believes that it was to satisfy the political

aspirations of the diverse ethnic and linguistic in the region that entire area

was re-organized.

David (1996) discuss that as new nations struggle towards the

consolidation of nation-states, two crucial lessons can be learnt. First, in

that periods of consolidation will alternate with periods of crises and

rupture and secondly later periods may include the redrawing of boundaries

of these nation sates. He has stressed that the assertion is usually made that

the ordinary people who are but innocent vested by the guileful politicians,

is a naïve oversimplification. The author argues that ethnic consciousness,

chauvinism, racism and religious tolerance are ambiguous ideologies that

may run deep among people in various ethnic groups. David elaborated that

ethnic ideology has a deep grip on the mass audience and false prophets

about the opportunistic politicians may be more a result that cause which

can be debatable point, given by him. Besides this he had discussed various

15

conventional solutions undertaken by the states e.g forcible mainly (

military) integration , incorporation elimination of recalcitrant ethnicities,

federalism, regionalism autonomy, devolution democratization, economic

decentralization etc have been implemented to various degrees and forms

ethnic coalition politics, forcible interference , intervention or intercession

by other countries or various agencies such as UN, EU, IMF and peace

movements.

Mehrota (1998) opines that separatism is not a new phenomenon.

He refers that nationalism has been a catchword with many different

meanings in modern times. It can work in multiplicity of forms. It can be

exfoliated for cultural integration, political ends, and democratic ideals and

may even lead towards authoritarianism. Nationalism as an ideology can be

dangerous as it may lead to the formation of an authoritarian Government

that may also follow the policy of expansionism. The extreme form of

ethnic nationalism is the primary cause of ethnic cleansing, which Adof

Hitler adopted in the inter-war period. Finally, according to the author,

nationality is based on the consciousness of an encompassed within a

geographically defined territory. In fact, ethnic nationalism has had an

advantage over territorial or civic nationalism because the former appears

as natural continuation of a pre-existing ethnicity.

Brwon(1998) examines that nation-states have been weakened by

the failure of ruling elites to deliver the promised social justice. The

inequalities of development have exacerbated the need of individuals for

an imagined community which could provide a sense of identity, security

and authority. Ethnic community is increasingly replacing the state, in this

role, because of capacity of ethnicity to portray itself as social justice. The

author opines that if the state claiming to be a cultural nation, cannot offer

16

the necessary protection , then it is the cultural nation claiming to be the

potential states, which offer the next best to state.

Dhar gives the emphasis on ethnic identity crisis. He is of the view

that this crisis held in most parts of the world and if we talk in Indian

contexts, India’s long experience with infiltration by various ethnic tribes

and tribal groups, during different periods of India’s history, their

absorption into Hindu society, their preservation of different cultures,

languages and religion, living as identities, separate from others, separate

sates were established like the story of Assam, its period of glory and

decline with the formation of Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Arunachal

and Bodoland with demands for formation s of more states like Karbiland

and Purbanchal with complex developments arising with quite a number of

militant outfits , operating in the north east states with foreign aid and

collaboration to subvert Indian administration.

Oommen (2001) found that most interpretations of ethnicity

concentrate either on particular societies or on specific dimensions of

‘world society’. However variations within and across societies are vital

for understanding contemporary dilemmas of ethnicity. The author’s main

focus is on citizenship, nationality and ethnicity and he also talks about

their applicability to a variety of empirical situations. Oommen sees that

the nation is a product of a fusion of territory and language. He

demonstrates that neither religion nor race determines national identities.

As territory is must for a nation to emerge and exist, the dissociation

between people and their ‘homeland’ makes them a ethnie. Citizenship is

conceptualized both as a status to which nationals and ethnies ought to be

entitled and a set of obligations, a role they are expected to play. He

analyses three historical episodes such as colonialism and European

expansion, Communist internationalism and the nation-state and its project

17

of cultural unity and also examines to provide the empirical content of

argument.

Nag (2002) describes the nationality question in India. It is one of

the most important problems faced by the modern Indian political society.

The book is an incisive study of the nationality problem in Assam. It

dwells deep into the development of Assamese nationality, being from the

pre-colonial era and advent of British capitalism and consequent

transformation.

Misra(2002) argues that in the process of nation building , Nagas

expressed their reservations about becoming a part of the newly

independent republic and launched an armed struggle for an independent

Naga homeland. Not only, has this Assam posed much serious challenge to

the nation state. Today, with its really complex ethnic situation Assam has

emerged as the problem to Indian Union. This book deals with social,

historical and political factors which led to secessionist in states as

different as Nagaland and Assam and refelect how the future of Nation-

State in India depends.

Singh (2002) talks about the Naga insurgency and resurgence and

ultimately how Naga leaders misused the political power for their personal

interest, which gave birth to corruption, which hinders the democratic

process in the way of democratic system. He also describes the role of

money and muscle power at the time of election. The problem of linguistic

and cultural identity, ethnicity and autonomy demands have led to violent

expression like Dravidland, Khalistan, Nagalim, Jharkhand, Gorkhaland

etc.

Zhimomi (2004) presents an analytical account of the Naga

political history where both the moderate and extremist Naga leaders have

been playing different roles. He examines the political event of the state

18

even before the creation of Nagaland state and the circumstances in which

political events appeared and developed till today. Main focus is also in

important Naga militant movement, on the Naga politics and on the Naga

people.

Venuh(2004) finds that the Nagas belong to multi-ethnic groups and

sub-groups, but with similarity in physical features and affinity in culture.

The focuses that before the advent of British to the Naga hills, the Nagas

were in a state of confinement as they followed the tradition of their

forefather in all socio-economic and political aspects. The Britishers,

brought change in Naga society but yet certain traits of traditional life and

culture persisted. This book is valuable because it focuses on the social and

cultural change taking place in the Naga society in current era.

Kumar(2005) analyses the process of Naga identity formation in a

broader framework. Tracing origin and history of the Nagas, he discusses

their migration, culture social structure. Ethnicity, religion and village

polity. It also deals with the politicization of the Naga identity.

Basu (2005) has presented in his work that the above demands

disturbed the democratic structure. This study also analyses different

aspect of democratic politics and movements in India.

Deb (2006) argues that in the recent era, ethnicity occupies a space

of importance in civil society discourse, in the North-Eastern region of

India. Ethnic diversities of the North-Eastern region and elite manipulation

of cultural sentiments Cultural intolerance arising out of ethno-cultural

paranoia produced alarming outbursts of Naga-Kuki clash of 1994. Ethnic

issues also from the core of secessionist demands in certain parts of North

East India.

19

Dutta (2007)focuses on the genealogy of conflict in the North-

Eastern areas of Assam, Bodoland, Karbi Anglong, the North-Cacher Hills,

Manipur and the ensuring peace process, the relevance of Gandhian values

and philosophy has given due importance, toward the formation of peace in

the very first volume. The second volume consist of extensive scholary

writings focusing on the insurgency problem and the development of the

peace process, in the North Eastern states of Nagaland, Mizoram, Tripura

and in Karbi Anglong, along with the NC Hill of Assam, with special

reference to Nagaland scholars, like Charles Chaise, having examined the

historical agreement between the NSCN and the Government of India as

well as the current position of the Nagaland.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The study aims to seeking the answers of the following questions

1. What is separatism? What are the foundations of separatism? Besides,

what types of situation leads to the emergence of separate feelings

among the people of a particular community?

2. What are the roots of primordial loyalties on the basis of which Nagas

developed in colonial India and got sharpness against the post-colonial

Indian state?

3. What types of strategies and methods have been adopted by the Indian

state in the process of Nation building against the Nagas to pacify their

rancor?

4. Most of the separatist movement has transnational affiliations and

cross-border support and encouragement to their cause against the

hostile enemies groups or states. The very fact makes the ethnic

rivalries more acute and complicated due to various humanitarian and

instrumental reasons, transitionally fractured and divided community.

They have tried to get external support in their struggle against the

20

Indian state. Hence, it is also necessary to discuss how naga have tried

to get external support? Further, what is nature of external support?

How far they have succeeded in their mission?

5. What are the implications of separatism on Indian polity especially the

question of center state relations in view of the handling of Naga

problem? What are the patterns, forms and dimensions of peace process

between the Naga insurgents and the Indian state?

CHAPTER SCHEME

The answer to the above raised questions will be tries to find out in the

following

Chapter:-1: Introduction

Chapter 1 provides introduction to conducted research and discuss

the review of literature to provide a more concrete foundation on the issue

of Naga problem. It further sets research questions, research methods,

sources and relevance of study and describes the plan of study.

Chapter:-2: Conceptual Framework of Separatism

This chapter will include the discussion over the issue of separatism

in a broader way. This will also analyze the foundations and consequences.

Chapter: - 3: Naga politics under Colonial rule from 1832 to 1947

This chapter will discuss the historical evolution of Naga identity.

Apart from this, chapter will also examines the pre-modern roots of Naga’s

problem in colonial and post-colonial period and also that what type of

response and treatment they have been met out by the colonial and post-

colonial regimes.

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Chapter: - 4: Naga Separatism and State Response

This chapter describes and analyzes various peace talks and

negotiations that have been held between the Nagas and Indian state.

Chapter: - 5: External Linkages in Naga Uprisings

This chapter presents the external support getting by Nagas and

explore the external linkages of Naga separatism.

Chapter:-6: Conclusion

This chapter provides conclusion of the entire study with major

findings and provides some suggestions which are useful and practicable

for the Naga Problem of India.

RESEARCH METHEDOS

The Present study is based on historical, descriptive and analytical

methods. All the data have been collected from primary as well as

secondary sources. The primary data has been collected from official

reports and document related to the Naga community. Secondary sources

include books and articles published in various research journals,

magazines and newspapers. Besides this, internet sources also used as per

the requirement of the study. Apart from above mentioned sources

Nagaland is also visited to consult various sources available there, like

documents and other related material.

RELEVANCE OF THE STUDY

Relevance of the study lies in the fact that separatist movements is

going on not only in India but also in other neighboring states such as Sri

Lanka and Pakistan. There is consistent struggle for more autonomy and

some demands for separate state and separatism. With regard to the Naga

problem there are efforts going on in India and abroad to resolve the issue

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but that may take a long period. In the other words, Naga imbroglio is

dominating the national and international academic and political circles.

The study traces the genesis of Naga problem in the colonial period and

analyzes the relation of the Nagas with the Indian state. Moreover, the

study will also include the external linkages of the Naga movement. They

have established their links with foreign powers to get support for their

struggle against the Indian state. Hence, the study will help us to

understand the different aspects of long standing problem of Naga

separatist movement in India.