Confronting Constructionism

Abstract

Since 1947 when India gained independence from British rule, the government has been engaged in a bloody armed conflict with the leading political organization fighting for Naga independence. In 1963, the Indian government created the state of Nagaland whose territory coincided with what was then the centrally administered Naga Hills Tuensang Area. Despite efforts to end the conflict, the line between the independentist and the integrationist factions in Naga politics have remained blurred. The author looks at the Naga independentist movement in the context of its opposition to federal constructionism of Naga identity. He also discusses the pamphlet Bedrock of Naga Society (2000) in which the state Congress party takes on the independentist argument that the formation of the Nagaland compromised the sovereignty of the Nagas. The chapter also explores the dynamic between the hill peoples and the lowland states in pre-colonial times and focuses on the relation between the Nagas and the Manipuris which presents the greatest challenge to the peace process today.