The Nagas are a group of more than 40 fierce, freedom loving, warring tribes of a distinct Sino-Mongoloid stock inhabiting the hills of North-Eastern India(states of Nagaland,Manipur, assam, and Arunachal Pradesh), and Eastern Myanmar. They are ethnically and racially different from the mainland Indians of Dravidian and Aryan groups. Today, the Nagas number about 3 million in population.
It is generally accepted that the Nagas are the coming together of tribes originating in China. These tribes came to their present homeland in waves of migration. Although it is indisputable that they share a common root, their exact origin is shrouded in mystery.They are the first settlers of the virgin land, the indegeneous people of the place and had lived in their own sovereign territory from time immemorial without any outside interferences.
In the early 19th century when the British came to colonize the Nagas, they put up a strong resistance. However, with superior weapons and organisation they, slowly but surely, began to take over Naga lands. By 1866, the British had added a new district to their empire known as the Naga Hill District. In the decades that followed, the British divided the Naga lands into different administrative units under two nations - India and Burma. Within India, they were further divided into smaller administrave units by several boundaries. All this was done without the consultation or consent of the Nagas.
On the eve of British withdrawal from the Indian subcontinent, there was great political upheaval among the Nagas. The most notable was the emergence of the Naga National Council (NNC) in 1946. The Nagas were determined not to be ruled by other nations. Representations and memorandums were sent to the British in this regard. They eventually declared their independence on August 14th, 1947, a day ahead of the Indian Independence.
After the British left there was serious conflict between the Nagas and the newly independent Union of India. The struggle for independence and the demand for a separate state is not a new concept to the Nagas. The Nagas were fiercely independent prior to the British, their forefathers living a life of their own in their sovereign village states.
The Naga issue is an complicated one. To solve this all three parties involved - India, Myanmar and the Nagas - must fully understand the complexities that lie behind the movement. The ongoing talks between India and the NSCN has given a new ray of hope for peace and a durable settlement to the vexed problem and it's accompanying violence that the Nagas are now visibly tired of.
NagaTalk, an interactive site for Nagas, is a private initiative to be an interactive interface between Nagas on current social, political and other issues before the Nagas society. The site has no affiliations with any parties or organisations whatsoever. It is a site attempting to harmoniously bring together the opinion of Naga net users and has no anti-India intentions.