Angami Zapu Phizo was a Naga leader from India. Under his influence, the Naga National Council inclined towards seeking secession from India. The Naga secessionist groups regard him as the "Father of the Nagas".
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Biography
A Z Phizo belonged to the Angami Naga tribe. He had collaborated with the Japanese army in Burma.He was impotent (with erectile dysfunction) and couldn't father any offspring. His inability to consummate his marriage made him schizoid and was very aggrieved. [1] He grew disillusioned with the political motives of the newly independent Indian government.
As the British were preparing for their withdrawal from India, Phizo separately met the Assamese, Garos, Khasis, Lushais, Mikirs, Abors, Mishmis and Meiteis leaders in an attempt to convince them to form independent countries of their own, instead of joining the proposed Union of India. However, his efforts failed. On August 14, 1947, one day before Indian gained its independence, Phizo declared the independence of Naga region.[2]
Phizo's influence in the Naga National Council (NNC) increased in late 1940s, after the NNC secretary Imti Aliba Ao retired from politics for an appointment in the Indian Frontier Administrative Services. Phizo became the NNC Chairman in October-November 1949 after defeating Vizar Angami of Zakhama village by a margin of one vote.[3] Under his leadership, the NNC inclined towards seeking secession from India. Phizo urged the Naga people to boycott the Indian elections. He met the Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in December 1951 near Tezpur in Assam, in March 1952 at Delhi, and in July 1952 at Dibrugarh.[3] He was arrested in Burma for illegal entry.
In September 1954, Phizo formed the "People's Sovereign Republic of Free Nagaland", with the support of Chang chiefs of Tuensang.[3] He also reorganized the NNC setup, as the chances of a peaceful settlement declined. He was thus instrumental in laying the long road of regress which lay ahead for the Nagas.
This came in the form anti-social activities of the armed "Naga Nationalist Movements" who were actually in truth, extortion machinery of the so called Naga Leaders, in the same lines of the ULFA of Assam, which came into being as the Naga regions were perennially in a state of conflict not allowed to be a self-sufficient region(as these movements should have made them) and also being thoroughly dependent on the Union of India for finance. All forms of large or mid-scale industry was threatened by the so-called "National" Movements. Unemployment was a natural result with the death of industry, enterprise and entrepreneurs, marked with rise of the ill-implemented "Naga National Movement". Some of the other negative socio-political impacts which were and are being felt in present day Nagaland because of this mis-managed movement are (and not just limited to): Drug addiction, massive illegal immigration of Bangladeshis, AIDS, Lack of medical and transport infrastructure, Industry (even though it has one of the highest percentage of educated people in the country) etc.
In 1955, the Angami leaders T. Sakhrie (who had served the secretary of NNC since its inception) and Zasokie broke off with Phizo at a meeting in the Khonoma village. Phizo got Sakhrie murdered in January 1956. Thus, Phizo, so far known to be the leader of the Nagas, came forth to be a separatist one, who couldn't come to terms with his own brethren of same tribe (albeit different villages), let alone rally the cumulative aspirations of the secessionist Nagas.[3] On 22 March 1956 he formed the "Naga Central Government", which was later renamed to "Federal Government of Nagaland" (FGN) in 1959. The new organization had a military wing to encounter the Indian soldiers, who were accused of human rights violations by the separatists. The FGN continues to exist in Nagaland and commit human rights violations, more blatant than those committed by the Indian Army or the Other Naga Separatist Movements.
Phizo escaped to East Pakistan in December 1956, from where he went to London.[4] He continued supporting the secessionist movement in Nagaland, until died in exile in London in 1990.
See also
References
- ^ S.K. Chaube (1999). Hill Politics in Northeast India. Orient Longman. p. 156. ISBN 8125016953.
- ^ Christopher A Mullen, ed (1997). UNPO Yearbook, 1996. Kluwer Law International. ISBN 978-9041104397. OCLC 39055035.
- ^ a b c d Chaube, Shibani Kinkar (1999) [1973]. Hill politics in Northeast India. Orient Longman. pp. 153–161. ISBN 8125016953. OCLC 42913576.
- ^ "Integration of the North East: the State Formation Process". Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization. http://www.ide.go.jp/English/Publish/Jrp/pdf/jrp_133_01.pdf. Retrieved 2008-03-20.
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