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Naga Army

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Not to be confused with Naga Regiment.

Naga Army
LeadersReivilie Angami
Thuingaleng Muivah
Kaito Sukhai
Mowu Gwizan
Dates of operation1952 (1952) – present
HeadquartersTaga Camp, Hkamti District, Sagaing Region
Camp Hebron, Peren District, Nagaland
Active regions
IdeologyNaga nationalism
Sizeone brigade and six battalions
Part ofNNC
NSCN
Battles and warsNaga Conflict
Designated as a terrorist group by India
WebsiteNaga Army FB page

The Naga Army is the ethnic minority army of the Naga people.[citation needed] Currently it is the military wing of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN).[1]

History

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First phase: under the NNC

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The Naga Army was founded by Reivilie Angami in 1952. In its first phase it was part of the Naga National Council political party.[2][1]

The Naga National Council had two wings, the Naga Federal Government (NFG) —renamed Federal Government of Nagaland (FGN) in 1959— and the Naga Army,[3] also known by other names, such as Naga Home Guard (preceded by the Safe Guard),[4] Naga Federal Army,[5] etc.[6][7] After more than a decade of unfruitful talks with the Indian authorities, including Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Zapu Phizo, the NNC chairman, lost faith in the diplomatic process. He realized that the possibility of a peaceful settlement of the issue with India would be very remote, for he saw that there was no intention to grant self-determination to Nagaland.[8] When the insurgent army began operating in the Naga territories the Indian government responded heavy-handedly. In 1958 the whole sector was declared a "disturbed area" by the Indian state, the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) was implemented and the Indian Army forced its way into the Naga region. In the ensuing unequal battle the Naga fighters were crushed. Despite official denials, the Indian Armed Forces committed atrocities both against the fighters, as well as against the civilian population, including torture, rape and arson.[9][5] The Naga National Council leadership fled to East Pakistan and Phizo went from there into exile. The insurgents meanwhile dispersed among the civilian population and engaged in small, sporadic, guerrilla attacks. Some of the most severe confrontations of this period took place in Jotsoma village.[7] Later, on 26 August 1960, a Douglas C-47 plane of the Indian Air Force was shot down during an attempt to drop relief materials and ammunitions to a military outpost. Eventually, on 6 September 1964 the Indian Armed Forces declared a ceasefire.[10][11]

In 1966 the insurgents sought help from China. The first expedition being led by NNC General Secretary Thuingaleng Muivah in October. It trekked across the mountainous Sagaing Division, reaching the Chinese border three months later in January 1967. Over 130 military personnel were trained and indoctrinated in Tengchong, Yunnan, and returned to Nagaland with brand-new Chinese equipment, including rifles and rocket launchers. A second expedition was led by NNC leader Isak Chishi Swu and Naga Army General Mowu Gwizan. The 330 men left in December 1967 and reached China by March 1968, being similarly trained and supplied weapons at Tengchong. A third expedition with one hundred men, led by Ngasating Shimray and Lt. Colonel Taka left Nagaland in January 1968, but they were blocked by Kachin Independence Army (KIA) members, and turned back after having their weapons confiscated.[3]

The association with Communist China caused deep disagreements at the top, as well as among the ranks.[12] General Kaito Sukhai, who had been in the Naga Army since the beginning, firmly opposed it and left the organization in July 1967. The following year in August he would be assassinated.[13] Shortly thereafter Kaito Sukhai's supporters, who were mostly Sümi Naga, defected from the Naga Army and formed their own organization, the Revolutionary Government of Nagaland (RGN). In the end the cadres of this group gave up the armed struggle and went back to civilian life. Some of them joined the Border Security Force (BSF).[14]

Following the signing of the 1975 Shillong Accord, a key group of the illegal Naga political organisation accepted military defeat and the surrender of arms. The accord —between the Government of India and "Underground Representatives" whose rank or status in the Naga army or the Federal Government of Nagaland were not even mentioned— stipulated that the armament of the Naga guerrillas should be deposited in agreed spots. However, those inspecting the implementation of the accord observed that weapons that had been surrendered were old and outdated and inferred that the best weaponry of the underground forces had been sent across the border to units entrenched in Burma's frontier region. Rano M. Shaiza, Phizo's niece, saw the accord as a favorable opportunity towards a solution of the intractable Naga problem, but she warned too that 'a sizeable underground hardcore led by well-trained, experienced and dedicated leaders has established its headquarters in the Naga territory of northern Burma'.[15]

The Shillong Accord brought relief both to the battle-weary insurgent military personnel, as well as to the civilians living in areas where Indian authorities had put counter-insurgency measures in place. After the surrender of weapons by the Naga guerrillas, over six hundred prisoners of war were released from Indian jails and all cases against them were withdrawn. Numerous Naga military units had been decimated by the Indian forces as a result of the intensive military operations of the previous years. The curfew that had been imposed in many rural sectors, and which prevented harvesting —thus threatening villagers with famine, was finally lifted. Moreover, villagers who had been fined up to 118,062.50 Indian rupees as punishment for assisting the Naga army were reimbursed.[16]

The cessation of hostilities in 1975, meant that the Naga Army personnel fighting inside Nagaland had accepted defeat, conceding the operational victory to the Indian military. According to governor L.P. Singh, at a certain point around 1,400 Naga soldiers had surrendered. Meanwhile the NNC, the political wing, had made fundamental concessions in order to survive. However, the group led by Thuingaleng Muivah quartered beyond the Burmese border had remained relatively intact. Muivah, along with Isak Chishi Swu, wanted to keep the armed struggle going against India and denounced the signatories of the accord in the most severe terms: "In spite of 'the bitterest pressure they have been subjected to, the Nagas will forever hold their own … any talks, any negotiations tending to [include Nagaland] within the Indian Union are unequivocally the works of hidden traitors who in no way represent the people'. This intransigence created a wide rift in Naga society.[17]

After the years of confrontation there was a general desire for peace in Nagaland and the Shillong Accord was seen as a positive step by large sections of the public. Nevertheless there was a wide gap between those supporting the accord and those opposing it. In 1978 members of the Nagaland Peace Council (NPC) —the organization which had arranged the meeting at Shillong— organized an expedition to the Naga area of northern Burma in order to persuade the last remnants of the NNC, FGN and the Naga Army to accept the accord. Even though the Indian authorities had been duly informed by the Naga Peace Council of their mission, the group was waylaid and arrested by Indian security units before they reached the Burmese border.[16][18]

Second phase: under the NSCN

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The tensions generated in the wake of the acceptance of the Shillong Accord by the NNC culminated in the establishment of the NSCN (National Socialist Council of Nagaland) on 31 January 1980. The new leadership had previously rewritten the Naga Constitution (Yehzabo) after a socialist pattern, centralizing the power on itself. Thus the new political party distanced itself from the Naga National Council, the political organization that had hitherto led the struggle towards self-determination and secession. The shift towards socialism marked a new era in the Nagaland insurgency. Christianity had been a major identity factor among the Naga people, transcending tribe and language. Phizo himself was not attracted to communism —'We wish to remain within the fold of the Christian nations', he is quoted as declaring. For nearly 30 years the Naga guerillas had fought quite successfully with no ideology other than their ethnic nationalism complemented by their Christian tradition, but this was about to change.[18]

From their sanctuary in a remote area of Burma where the last remnants of the Naga Army had taken refuge, Isak Chisi Swu, Thuingaleng Muivah and S.S. Khaplang, had begun in November 1979 by killing all the top leaders who opposed their new guidelines. These included Naga army officers of different ranks, as well as important political figures, such as the NNC vice President, the Speaker of the Tatar Hoho, and some ministers.[16] In this ruthless manner the more radical NSCN co-opted the remaining fighting units of the Naga nationalist movement and deprived the more moderate NNC of a military branch. From the onset, the insurgency led by the NSCN mirrored the irregular warfare of numerous Marxist-Leninist revolutionary outfits present in the region of Northeast India, as well as in northern Burma. Still, it is very likely that the radicalization would have occurred even without the mid-1960s exposure of Naga guerrilla cadres to the Maoist methods and revolutionary dogma of the Chinese PLA in neighboring Yunnan.[19]

In this early stage, the NSCN already established links with the People's Liberation Army of Manipur and the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA). Later, a number of other insurgent outfits of the area would be added to the grand plan, the NSCN helping them to procure weapons, providing training for their cadres, and extorting money in order to finance the operations of the group. Thus the new political organization extended its influence beyond Nagaland through organized crime, patronizing the insurgency of other communities. Besides the extorsion racket, the political wing used money earned through drug trade in order to pay for the training of the Naga Army cadres and procure arms. The funds were also necessary to run the encampments used as training bases for its own, as well as for the fighters of other regional rebel groups. In its previous phase the Naga Army had obtained some weapons from East Pakistan, as well as from China, but ultimately it did not get substantial support. However, under the NSCN there began a regular supply of weapons acquired through clandestine arms dealers in Thailand. The cargoes arrived by vessel to Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh, and were carried overland via Bandarban along the eastern border of Mizoram and through Churachandpur and Tamenglong they reached the Peren district of Nagaland.[20] From there the arms consignments would eventually reach Kaphlang's Taga camp, located south of Nanyun, near the Chindwin river, at 26°49′52″N 96°12′14″E / 26.83111°N 96.20389°E / 26.83111; 96.20389.[21] Taga would become one of the main ULFA training camps, as well as of the NDFB.[20]

Kaphlang's bases in the remote Naga Hills had been a windfall for Isak Chisi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah when in the early 1970s the relentless counterinsurgency operations of the Indian forces had defeated the Naga insurgents in the west. After being driven out of their bases on the Indian side of the border, they were able to regroup there, in the northern Sagaing Region, beyond the reach of the Indian army. There, they could not only get a respite, but were even able to launch cross-border raids into the Indian side.[22] Even so, with the passing of the years inter-tribal differences in the NSCN military camp became worse by the day. They were exacerbated by the overbearing behavior of the Western Naga personnel towards those belonging to the Eastern Naga groups,[22] and in January 1988 there was an incident in which several top cadres of Thuingalong Muivah and Isaac Swu were killed. Finally the leadership of the political party split into two factions: the NSCN (K) fraction led by S.S. Khaplang, the former NSCN vice-president, and the NSCN (IM) led by Isak and Muivah, the Chairman and the General Secretary respectively. While Khaplang continued staying in the Taga camp, Muivah and Swu were driven to other locations beyond the border towards Nagaland and Manipur.[20]

Following a relatively quiet interval, in the second half of 1991 a group of 240 Naga Army soldiers belonging to the NSCN (IM) group marched southwards along the eastern border of Mizoram and turned westwards into Bangladesh. They had been sent to collect a shipment of weapons which had arrived at Cox's Bazar on a coastal vessel. This was the first batch of a number of consignments of arms purchased through dealers in Thailand with the help of the Pakistani ISI and the Bangladeshi DGFI. After the weapons had been collected by the group of NSCN (IM) cadres, the arms were brought back to Nagaland along the same route they had followed when reaching Bangladesh. It was during this period that the DGFI helped the NSCN (IM) —as well as the ULFA and the NDFB— to set up military training camps in the Chittagong Hill Tracts; additionally it provided safe houses in Dhaka and other locations in Bangladesh. This assistance gave a new impulse to the insurgency in Nagaland, Assam and Manipur.[20]

As a result of the newly-obtained support, the NSCN (IM) expanded its operations to Meghalaya, where it already had safe houses in Shillong, the capital of the state. There it linked with the newly-founded Hynniewtrep Achik Liberation Council (HALC), the first insurgent group in that small state. The Naga army cadres marched through safe routes across the mountainous terrain of the Garo Hills to bring the HALC recruits to the training facilities in Bangladesh. The Hynniewtrep Achik Liberation Council subsequently split up in two along ethnic lines, the Khasi Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) and the Garo Achik National Volunteer Council (ANVC). Both groups were helped by the NSCN (IM) when they requested assistance and the Naga military personnel helped them to set up training camps. The main interest of the NSCN (IM) in Meghalaya was in extorting vast sums of money from the wealthy Marwari traders of Shillong.[20]

Relations between Mizo and Naga insurgents were never good. Mizo armed rebellion against the Indian state began in 1966, eleven years later than in Nagaland.[23] However, the NSCN (IM) decided to help the Hmar, an ethnic group related to the Mizo, when they formed the Hmar Peoples Convention (HPC) against the Mizoram State government. Naga militias took the HPC under their wing, providing them with weapons and training its cadres. They were based in camps on the North Cachar Hills, from where they engaged in small guerrilla operations. Led by Naga cadres they carried out armed bank robberies and numerous ambushes on security forces in inner Cachar district. One of the underlying reasons for the cooperation with the Hmars was Naga irredentism, for the NSCN (IM) was seeking to develop a connection with the small Zeme Naga community living in the North Cachar Hills.[20]

The Indian military along with the Intelligence Bureau became aware of the regular weapon supplies coordinated by the NSCN (IM) that were carried overland to Nagaland from Cox's Bazar. In April 1995, after having monitored a sufficient amount of movements along the frontier region, they decided to act in a surprise attack named Operation Golden Bird. The operation was to be carried out in coordination with the Tatmadaw. The arms convoy was ambushed to the west of Parva, a village located at 22°05′08″N 92°38′47″E / 22.08556°N 92.64639°E / 22.08556; 92.64639 in the Lawngtlai District of Mizoram. The sudden attack caught the soldiers that were transporting the arms consignment by surprise. A total of 58 cadres of the Naga Army, as well as some of the ULFA and the NDFB were killed. A number of prisoners were made and more than a hundred weapons were captured.[20] However, owing to a last-minute neglect to cooperate by the Tatmadaw, it is estimated that more than a hundred cadres of the convoy escaped with their weapons.[24]

See also

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Bibliography

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  • Nandita Haksar, Sebastian M. Hongray. Kuknalim, Naga Armed Resistance: Testimonies Of Leaders, Pastors, Healers And Soldiers. Speaking Tiger Publishing Pvt. Ltd., 2019, ISBN 9388874935 (epub:978-93-88874-92-2)
  • Nirmal Nibedon, Nagaland, the night of the guerrillas, Lancers Publishers, 1978. ISBN-13, 978-1897829387
  • Maxwell, Neville (1980). India, the Nagas, and the North-East. MRG. ISBN 9780903114196. OCLC 07133386.

References

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  1. ^ a b South Asia Terrorism Portal - Incidents and Statements involving NSCN-IM: 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 1992-2012
  2. ^ "Late Brig. Reivilie Angami remembered". Nagaland Post. 19 February 2010. Retrieved 10 January 2025.
  3. ^ a b Bertil Lintner. Great Game East, Yale University Press, London 2015. p. 262 ISBN 978-0-300-19567-5
  4. ^ 50th Anniv of Naga Army Raising day on Jan 3, 2024 - Nagaland Post
  5. ^ a b "Everything explained about the 'History of Naga Insurgency'". ETV Bharat. 12 July 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2025.
  6. ^ Chirantan Kumar, Understanding the Naga Issue. p. 115
  7. ^ a b Morung Express - Tale of Jotsoma Rüna Dze
  8. ^ Maxwell 1980, pp. 5–6.
  9. ^ Lanukaba Imchen, Younger generations should know/// Nagaland Tribune, 14 August 2014
  10. ^ "Remembering the Fallen: 'Black Day' Observed At Meluri Sub-Division". Nagaland Page. 6 September 2021. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
  11. ^ "The Cease-fire Agreement, September 6, 1964". South Asia Terrorism Portal. 6 September 2021. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
  12. ^ NNC Ao Region remembers and pays respect to Thepushu Venuh
  13. ^ A tribute to Gen. Kaito Sukhai 1933-1968
  14. ^ Highland Institute - Shadows of the Past; Memories with Revolutionary Government of Nagaland Members
  15. ^ Maxwell 1980, p. 11.
  16. ^ a b c Kaka D. Iralu, Some hard facts about the Shillong Accord and its aftermath - Morung Express
  17. ^ Maxwell 1980, pp. 11–12.
  18. ^ a b Maxwell 1980, pp. 12.
  19. ^ Maxwell 1980, pp. 13.
  20. ^ a b c d e f g The Naga Insurgency (Part II)
  21. ^ Taga Sakan, Nanyun, Hkamti District, Sagaing Region, Myanmar
  22. ^ a b Bertil Lintner, The Forgotten Frontier. Irrawaddy
  23. ^ Maxwell 1980, pp. 9.
  24. ^ South Asia Terrorism Portal - OCSS; Volume 1, No. 22, March 6, 2019
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