On June 17, at a public consultative meeting on Indo-Naga peace talk at Town Hall, in Phungreitang in Manipur, the Kilo Kilonser (Home Minister) of the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM), RH Raising, claimed that the government of India has agreed to allow Nagaland residents a separate passport and flag. This was reported in Manipur-based media on June 18. On June 22, the Centre issued a denial on making such an agreement.

Before the Union Ministry of Home Affairs denial, it was expected of Nagas to be excited about the agreement, which literally could have been interpreted as an acceptance from India that Nagas are not Indians (a position that all Naga underground groups, including the NSCN-IM, swear by). However, there was no excitement among the Nagas, at least among those in Nagaland State.

In fact, people in Nagaland were literally unaware of the Kilo Kilonser’s statement, although it is known to all Nagas that separate passport and flag were among the charter of demands submitted to the government of India by the NSCN-IM for the settlement of the Naga issue.

No newspapers in Nagaland, whether due to oversight or otherwise, carried the report. And this perhaps could be the reason for the little or no excitement in Nagaland on the statement made by the NSCN-IM leader.

Another reason for the lukewarm response is that Nagas in Nagaland are well aware that settling the Naga issue exclusively with only one group, the NSCN-IM, will not bring permanent peace in Nagaland. Rather, there is fear that it will result in a free-for-all armed confrontation among the remaining Naga nationalist groups to claim legitimacy as the only body representing Naga people’s right to sovereignty.

The core issue facing the citizens of Nagaland today is the unabated multiple illegal taxations being imposed by Naga underground groups directly or indirectly, bringing all economic activity to a standstill. The Naga insurgent groups imposes tax on almost everything — they even deduct 24 per cent tax from the salary of all state government employees as annual tax.

Yes, to sell something in the market or to construct a house, and so on, one has to pay tax, and the taxes is paid not to only one group, but all six to seven underground groups factions (all have their respective governments), claiming to fight for the rights of the Nagas.

Many civil society groups have opposed such illegal taxations by the UGs (undergrounds). Fed up by such illegal taxations, Naga public spearheaded by a civil society group called ACAUT (Against Corruption, Against Unabated Taxation) adopted a slogan “One Government, One Tax”, asking all Naga UGs to unite and have only one government, failing which Naga people will not pay tax to any UG groups (UG governments). Standing firmly on the adopted slogan, the ACAUT even mobilised village chiefs to desist from paying “Household and Ration Tax” to the UGs, while also filing FIRs with police against some NSCN-IM officials for demanding taxes from the people.

This, however, did not go down well with the Naga UG groups, including NSCN-IM, which promptly “banned” ACAUT, accusing them of being “anti-Naga” and colluding with Indian agencies to scuttle the Naga peace process. The NSCN-IM maintains that it has the sole legitimacy to represent and collect tax by claiming that it is the only people mandated “Naga national government”. Likewise, other UGs also claim legitimacy to collect taxes from the general populace.

“Paying tax to NSCN is in itself a political demonstration of indicating that Naga people pay tax to Naga government and not the occupying force (India),” claims the ministry of information & publicity (MIP) of the Government of the People’s Republic of Nagalim (NSCN-IM). The NSCN-IM also says, “NSCN has been reminding the other groups to come and join the peace process which is in its concluding stage so that the final decision could be worked out together and the voice of ‘one government one tax’ shall also be achieved.”

The latest threat against the ACAUT from the NSCN-IM was made on June 17 — the day RH Raising reportedly made the statement that the government of India has agreed to allow Nagaland residents a separate passport and flag. Since then, there has been support to ACAUT activities and condemnation of the NSCN-IM for issuing threats from Naga bodies, including the powerful Nagaland Tribes Council (NTC). The NTC has asked the NSCN-IM not to contaminate the Naga movement with threats and ban.

Gauging the public mood against rampant illegal taxation by the Naga UGs, it is therefore understandable that there was no excitement to the purported statement made by the NSCN-IM leader on separate passport and flag for Nagas, which has now been firmly denied by MoS Home, Kiren Rijiju. One must understand that while all Nagas support the peace process and wants an early settlement to the Naga issue, the common man’s cry is for freedom from multiple illegal taxations, which is slowly strangulating them.