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The Unofficial University

The NSCN seems to be giving the Naga people what they need—for its own reasons

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The Unofficial University
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“Give me one good reason why I’d want to stay back in Nagaland?” asks a young Naga boy in hushed tones, under a starry sky in the remote village of Viswema on the Nagaland-Manipur border. This was in May this year, when Thuingaleng Muivah, the leader of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN)—the movement for a separate Naga state—had halted there, waiting for clearance from the Manipur government to visit his native Somdal village.

With their leader visiting, Viswema refused to go to sleep. The villagers were out till late into the night, talking. The young boy did not want to be named for fear of being branded “anti-national” by the Nagas. “I want to study journalism like you,” he whispered. “But there isn’t a single school where I can get an education.”

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One person did hear his lament—Ajianpu Kamei, a passionate NSCN activist. The young man needn’t have feared, because Kamei sympathised with him. “But,” said Kamei, “we are trying to change the situation.” The NSCN runs a “parallel government” with Muivah as the prime minister and it has an education ministry. A member of the ministry, Kamei himself has studied mathematics and the sciences in other parts of India, including Delhi,  and throughout his student life felt the need for good vocational training centres “not just in Nagaland, but in the whole northeastern region”.

“We are painfully aware of the brain drain that takes place in the Northeast, but at the moment, we also know that it is inevitable,” says Vikiye Sumi, NSCN’s minister of education. He says that since the ceasefire with the Indian government, it has concentrated on education. He says boys like Kamei go to remote villages of Nagaland and impart education. “We cannot reveal everything at this point because things are in a nascent stage,” says Sumi. “And the other reason for the secrecy, of course, is that the Indian government will not recognise our institutions.”

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But he indicates that a large plan is in place, for “training of trainers” programmes are already under way. The idea is to set up vocational training centres, and the ultimate objective perhaps is that, should Greater Nagaland become a reality in the future, young Nagas would stay back. “Retaining talent is a big priority,” says Sumi. “Our plans include centres for training in sciences, mathematics, journalism, photography, mass media and also agriculture, for the Nagaland economy is agro-based. Farmers here do not have any training, however, in modern methods.” He says he therefore wants to retain talent and train them to be resourceful. As always in such ventures, it’s easier said than done.

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