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The Rediff Special/ North-East

North-East awaits its second independence

The North-East, most of it then known as Assam, was the last region to be occupied by the imperialist British. Ironically, it also happens to be among the few, which have had to pay the highest price for Independence.

With the partition of the country, Assam lost her largest district, Sylhet, to Pakistan and some parts to Bhutan. Then came the reorganisation with Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh being carved out of of the state.

This reorganisation was like a second independence for the mostly tribal people of the region. They felt that the new states would give them a distinct identity, a hope somewhat lost in the maze of subsequent developments.

How far the basic objective of development of tribal areas has been achieved is questionable. According to elder statesman and former chief minister of Assam, Sarat Chandra Sinha, who played a very important role in the reorganisation of the state, creation of smaller states failed to emancipate the masses and served only the elite.

''Political independence is an instrument to achieve economic independence. Unfortunately, the second struggle for economic emancipation for the masses could not be started. Hence, despite the creation of the smaller states, nothing concrete has been achieved. Now there are more chief ministers and hundreds of MLAs. But only the people in the upper strata have improved their position. The plight of the masses remain the same,'' he says.

But as they say every cloud has a silver lining. ''Indian democracy has shown how flexible it could be. Everything has been tried, from the village councils to the district councils and autonomous councils to satisfy the aspirations of the masses. Perhaps, that is the reason why the violence did not reach the level once feared,'' says journalist Sanjoy Hazarika.

The seeds for creation of more states were sown immediately after Independence with the emergence of conscience for self-rule among the tribals. Most of them accepted the sixth schedule but it was just a matter of time before they demanded more.

The Naga National Council first raised the banner of revolt in 1947 seeking to remain independent outside the Indian Union and declared itself a sovereign republic in March 1956 sparking the militancy which is yet to end. This was a turning point for the North-East and a portent of the future chain of dissension that would shackle almost all the hill areas of the region.

As the violence grew, the Naga People's Convention began looking for a negotiated settlement raising the demand for a full-fledged state within the country. The NCP delegation, which met the prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru in July 1960 with a 16-point memorandum, comprised members representing all the tribes in the North-East hills.

The memorandum was thoroughly discussed with the officials of the external affairs ministry before being presented to Nehru. He announced the decision in Parliament on August 1, 1960. A new state called Nagaland, comprising the Naga hills and Tuensang area, was to be formed. It would be the 16th state in the republic.

In 1964 the prime minister came up with the Nehru Plan giving 100 per cent autonomy to the tribals of the North-East but that was rejected. However, negotiations continued and in 1968 the Assam Reorganisation (Meghalaya) Act was signed.

Besides stipulating the constitution of autonomous Meghalaya within the framework of Assam, the Act also provided for setting up of a ''high level'' northeastern council ''with a view to encouraging an integrated approach to the security and development of the region.''

The APHLC's original demand was for an eastern hills state comprising the hill areas of Assam including North East Frontier Agency (NEFA), now Arunachal Pradesh, and keeping the door open to other hill areas in the neighbourhood which might desire to join it.

But let alone NEFA, even the Mizo hills, the North Cachar and the Mikir hills had to be dropped from the scope of Meghalaya.

Due to lack of leadership, the Mizos also went the Naga way with the Mizo National Front taking the lead. An army operation was launched in the state, which at one point was set to becoming one of the most developed states of the North-East.

With the implementation of the North-East Reorganisation Act of 1971, the Mizo hills, renamed as Mizoram was made a Union Territory. It was inaugurated by the prime minister Indira Gandhi on January 21, 1972.

It became a state of the Indian Union on February 20, 1987 following the historic Mizoram peace accord, signed between the Central government and the Mizo National Front in June 1986.

Arunachal Pradesh was carved out from the North East Frontier Agency. It was never before a politically compact entity until reorganised in October 1951. It was governed by the governor of Assam through an adviser. The Chinese aggression of 1962 set off far-reaching changes.

As a first step towards creating a political and governing identity in 1969, the Pradesh Advisory Council was formed and in 1971 with the State Reorganisation Act, NEFA was renamed Arunachal Pradesh. The agency council was converted to pradesh council and the new territory was inaugurated in 1972. By 1975, it had a legislature and a chief minister.

The state reorganisation also saw the creation of Manipur and Tripura. Earlier, the two areas were constituted into a centrally administered territory and under provisions of the Territorial Council Act of 1956 given a substantial measure of local self-government -- though not powers to legislate.

The Centre's decision to confer full statehood to Manipur and Tripura was announced in Parliament on September 3, 1970. Manipur ultimately became a full-fledged state on January 20, 1972, followed by Tripura on January 21.

No doubt, each of the agitating tribes had been given separate identities by creating the states but emancipation of the common man still remained a far cry. In fact, the present-day destabilisation is due to non-acceptance of the reality.

Noted film-maker Jahnu Barua is angry not at the creation of more states, but at the failure of the leadership in Assam to grant the North-East tribes their rights. ''This is unprecedented. Nowhere in the world have six states been created from one unit within 25 years. But we have learnt our lessons. This mistake will continue to demolish the Assamese society in the next millennium unless a dynamic leadership emerges,'' he added.

UNI

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