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Naga Uprising

The recent civilian killings in Nagaland in northeast India have deteriorated the situation from bad to worse.

By Aneeza Maham | January 2022


The already shattering Naga Peace-Process is expected to be further aggravated by the recent killing of civilians in the Mon district of Nagaland, a mountainous state in northeast India, bordering Myanmar. The civilian killings in Nagaland occurred as a result of careless operation by the Indian armed forces as they were supposed to target an insurgent convoy. The violent protests followed the unfortunate incident and Section 144 of the CRPC was enforced in the Mon district to restrict the movement of people and vehicles while internet services were also suspended by the state government. Though the government authorities took no time to condemn the attack, they miserably failed to acknowledge the sinister role of the military establishment responsible for the massacre.

As the protests erupted across Nagaland, a complete shutdown was observed in the entire district post-incident. The key Naga group ‘Nationalist Social Council of Nagaland’ NSCN (I-M) has termed the incident as the ‘black day’ for Nagas. The Naga National Political group has also blamed the ‘Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) 1958’ for the brutal killings of innocent people and decided to appeal to the central government to totally abolish the AFSPA. Referred to as the licence to kill, the AFSPA act gives special powers to the armed forces to carry out counter-insurgency operations without the fear of accountability as they are provided an umbrella under this act.

Though Nagaland, unlike Indian-occupied Kashmir (IoK), is officially recognized as a part of the Indian Territory, the long-festering uprising in Nagaland is someway akin to the decades-long insurgency in the Indian-occupied Kashmir (IoK) as both Nagaland and IoK demand absolute independence from India. The central government views Nagaland as a remote land with little political and economic significance, giving less regard to the perpetual lawlessness and disorder in the northeast region. Running their own shadow governments, insurgents have maintained an excessive presence and influence in Nagaland for years. Now the recent killings have deteriorated the situation in Nagaland from bad to worse, there is a strong potential of insurgent groups using this incident for recruiting more insurgents in order to further strengthen their positions in the conflict-ridden region.


The Nationalist Social Council of Nagaland NSCN (I-M), in the same vein, has rejected the proposal by the central government to have a cultural flag, as Naga people demand a separate national flag and a constitution. Unwilling to accept the demand as always, the central government in New Delhi stands affirmed in its stance as there is no question of granting sovereignty to any state in India. Since local political parties tend to use Naga insurgents for their vested interests, the struggle for self-determination in Nagaland, which was once started as a separatist movement in the 1950s, has now turned into something similar to an organised crime.

Naga uprising is perhaps the longest and oldest internal conflict in Indian history. The prolonged Naga insurgency has brought its own set of challenges to the state as well as the security forces who find it an arduous task to maintain peace and order of the state. Spanning over a timeframe of twenty-four years, the peace talks between the central government of India and Nagaland’s government are at a greater risk now. The NSCN (I-M) was formed in the 1980s to oppose the ‘Shillong Accord,’ which was signed between the centre and the then Naga National Council in 1975. According to that accord, the Naga people should surrender their demand for sovereignty and accept the supremacy of the Indian Constitution. To unite the widely scattered 1.2 million Nagas in a single state of their own, the NSCN (I-M) demands ‘Greater Nagaland’ that includes all contiguous Naga-dominated areas in the neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Manipur.

Resorting to its old tactics, New Delhi rejects the proposed integration of these states with the existing Nagaland. To end the prolonged Naga strife, a framework agreement was signed in 2015 after more than a hundred rounds of talks spanning decades. However, the NSCN (I-M) alleged in 2020 that the original framework agreement was tweaked to mislead other Naga groups, and further talks were halted as a result.

Now the recent bloodbath has once again directed the attention towards the stalemate between the central government of India and the NSCN (I-M). Recent civilian killings have also revived the demand to abolish the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), which is viewed as India’s one of the most draconian laws. The reckless killings in Nagaland have also derailed the confidence-building measures which were put in place over the decades.

The renewed Naga unrest is expected to increase post-killings in the terror-hit region since there are already several separatist groups making Nagaland a hotbed of insurgency. With regards to the demands of the Nagas, New Delhi needs to change its old tactics to maintain a clear-cut but a fair and balanced approach. It is the duty of the central government of India to maintain the law and order situation in Nagaland, and bringing peace to the land must be the government’s utmost priority.

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