The Naga’s ancestral territory extends from northeastern India to Sagaing division and Kachin state, Burma. The term Naga encompasses over 20 distinct ethnic groups. Although they vary in culture, and speak different languages, they share many common traits.
In 1826, Britain started to draw up borders which divided Naga’s ancestral territory. More than a century later, India and Burma were released from the clutches of the British, and declarations of independence by the Naga were ignored.
Under the leadership of Angami Zapu Phizo, the president of the Naga National Council (NNC) from 1950 until his death in 1990, the NNC successfully united the Naga population in the struggle for sovereignty. After a long and dirty war with the Indian army, where villages were turned into fortified prison camps, a ceasefire was brokered in 1964.
But conflict between Indian forces and Naga armed groups, as well as fratricidal fighting between local Naga groups, continued until very recently. Despite the shared resentment locals continue to feel towards India, it’s obvious that India has brought about more development for Nagas than the Burmese government did for their eastern brethren.
Secluded from the world and neglected by the government, the Naga of Burma’s northern Sagaing division live a desolate existence that few understand, let alone know anything about.
Shap Won, who served as NNC joint secretary, is the founder and elderly leader for the Eastern Naga Development Organization (ENDO). Won started the organisation one year ago to “help his people” and “inform the world how Naga are suffering under the Burmese government.”
“Many people are dying,” says Won. Persistent problems with malaria and dysentery among the Naga population of Sagaing division are compounded by the difficulty in accessing the remote and rugged mountain ranges where the Naga dwell. Moreover, with a scarcity of viable employment, opium cultivation is on the rise, and with it addiction among locals, Won warns.