New Delhi: A tripartite agreement was signed for the creation of Frontier Nagaland Territorial Authority (FNTA) between the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the Nagaland government, and the Eastern Nagaland People’s Organisation (ENPO)—a win for eastern Nagaland districts, which have long been demanding a separate administrative authority of their own for better development in the largely overlooked region.
The agreement brings six eastern districts of Nagaland—Tuensang, Mon, Kiphire, Longleng, Noklak and Shamator—under the Frontier Nagaland Territorial Authority (FNTA). The special administrative system comes with the devolution of powers in respect of 46 subjects in the Seventh Schedule’s Concurrent List to the FNTA.
On the occasion, Home Minister Amit Shah assured the representatives of ENPO that the Centre will render its assistance in the development of eastern Nagaland. The FNTA, he said, will be provided an annual fixed amount—which is yet to be decided—promising the initial expenditure for the establishment of the new system from the MHA’s side.
The ENPO has been at the forefront of the call for a separate ‘frontier Nagaland territory’ for the eastern part of the state. It leads the cause for eight tribes—Chang, Khiamniungan, Konyak, Phom, Sangtam, Tikhir, Yimkhiung and Sumi.
There were 20 MLAs from the area across a total of 60 seats in the Nagaland assembly.
The agreement provides for a mini-Secretariat for the FNTA, which will be headed by the additional chief secretary or principal secretary, and the sharing of development outlay for the eastern Nagaland region in proportion to population and area.
“This unique arrangement envisages overall development of eastern Nagaland through financial autonomy, enhanced decision-making leading to accelerated infrastructure development, economic empowerment and optimum resource utilisation,” an official statement explained.
The agreement, however, clarified that the arrangement will not affect the provisions of Article 371(A) of the Constitution, which protects Naga religious and social practices, customary laws, and ownership and transfer of land from laws enacted by Parliament.
In this report, ThePrint explains what the ENPO’s demands have been and how the Centre has responded to them in the past.
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‘An excluded area’
The demand for a separate ‘frontier Nagaland territory’ was born in the eastern districts of the state, on the claim that successive governments had failed to pay adequate attention to its development.
The book, In the Shadows of Naga Insurgency, authored by the social anthropologist Jelle J.P. Wouters, explains the historical divide in Naga society in the western and eastern parts of the state. It explains that the western Naga tribes were under colonial rule as part of the Naga Hills district. In contrast, the eastern Naga tribes largely remained out of the colonial administration.
In 1945, the eastern area was brought under the North East Frontier Agency (NEFA) as the Tuensang Frontier Division.
The British had declared it “an excluded area,” the official website of the Tuensang district notes. “The people had almost no contact with the outside world. Head hunting and other primitive practices were common, and in fact, a case of head hunting was reported as late as October 1963 at Panso in the district.”
The Tuensang Frontier Division merged with the Naga Hills District of Assam in 1957, forming an administrative unit called the Naga Hills Tuensang Area (NHTA), which became the full-fledged state of Nagaland in 1963.
However, special provisions were introduced for the then-Tuensang district under Article 371A, in view of its relative backwardness, prescribing that the district would have a regional council for 10 years with the deputy commissioner as chairman. While this council was abolished after 10 years, the people of the districts claim that there has been continued lopsided development in the region over the years.
“Of the eleven districts in Nagaland, these…backward districts have almost half of the state’s population. But despite that, they continue to remain extremely underdeveloped. Our demand for the creation of Frontier Nagaland is based on historical facts (sic),” a statement issued by the ENPO when it launched its formal demand for statehood for the districts in 2010-11 stated, according to Wouters’ book.
‘Chenmoho Resolution’
The demand for a ‘frontier Nagaland’ has been an uphill battle for the ENPO in the past decade.
Back in 2012, while responding to a question in the Rajya Sabha, the Centre had noted that the ENPO had been raising the issue of the economic backwardness of the districts of eastern Nagaland and demanding a separate state.
“However, no assurance has been given to the ENPO,” it said.
Cut to a decade later, in 2022, the ENPO declared that its meeting with Shah had been “very successful”.
It was quoted as saying that Shah had “highlighted a clear roadmap for amicable, legislative and sustainable solution for eastern Nagaland”.
However, in 2024, the ENPO called for a boycott of the Lok Sabha elections, owing to the Centre’s delay in responding to its demands for a ‘frontier Nagaland territory’.
A day before the voting, the ENPO released a notice declaring an “indefinite total shutdown” all over eastern Nagaland. Consequently, people from six districts stayed away from voting.
This was pursuant to what is known as the ‘Chenmoho Resolution’, adopted at Chenmoho village in February 2024, to not participate in any central or state elections. The resolution was passed under the leadership of then ENPO President Tsapikiu Sangtam.
Sangtam joined the BJP in March last year.
Benjamin Yepthomi, the BJP state president for Nagaland, had then posted on X that his induction in the BJP further strengthens the party’s base in eastern Nagaland.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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