By NIRENDRA DEV
Eastern Nagaland prepares for celebrations as a long-running demand for greater autonomy brings back questions of governance, representation and the region’s political journey
Kohima, September 3, 2026 — History, it is often said, is made of three elements —celebration, anguish and sadness. Nagaland, too, has its own version of what could be described as “CAS” as the stage appears set for the passage of the Frontier Nagaland Territorial Authority Bill.
Mega celebrations have been planned across the eastern Nagaland region, even as the proposed arrangement raises questions about the administrative and governance failures that led people in the eastern districts to seek greater autonomy and distance themselves from what has been described as the mainstream Kohima system.
The political journey behind the demand is marked by both celebration and anguish.
“Our boys never could become president of Naga Students’ Federation (NSF),” a retired Health Department official told the author in Oting in 2023, reflecting on the sense of marginalisation in the region.
Two former chief ministers, S.C. Jamir and K.L. Chishi, had also criticised successive political arrangements in Kohima, alleging favouritism and nepotism.
Chishi, while recalling his own tenure, said: “I tried my best … In my one-month long tenure as chief minister, my deputy chief minister was Mr Chongshen, a stalwart from the region.”
Jamir, in a reflective conversation, recalled the historical association of eastern Nagaland with the state.
“Dev, it all has happened in one life for me…. Eastern Nagaland people joined us in the 1950s and 1960s deciding to be part of Nagaland state; and sadly, I am still around and they have parted ways,” Jamir said. Eastern Nagaland was earlier part of NEFA (Northeast Frontier Agency). The present geography of Arunachal Pradesh includes this. There are still some Naga stronghold areas in Arunachal Pradesh.
Asked what struck him most about the region, Jamir replied: “Well, essentially people are simple and good-hearted.”
He also recalled several eastern Nagaland leaders, including Chingwang Konyak, P. Enyei Konyak, Sao Chang, Chogshen Chang, Tochi Hanso, Yokten Konyak and S.K. Sangtam, whom he described as leaders committed to Nagaland.
Anguish Over Governance
Chishi had blamed Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio for the situation, saying in January 2023 that the chief minister should accept responsibility for what he described as “favouritism and nepotism.”
“The concentration of power and development in a few areas of Nagaland state has led to such disastrous consequences,” Chishi said.
He also alleged that funds intended for development and equitable distribution across Nagaland, particularly in eastern Nagaland, had been diverted or misused.
Jamir, meanwhile, questioned the manner in which the proposed autonomous arrangement was being pursued.
“The present arrangement (reported assurance on Autonomous Council) was made even without routing through the elected state government,” Jamir said in 2023, adding that it spoke volumes about the status and image of the state under Neiphiu Rio.
He also drew a distinction between the Regional Council envisaged under Point 10(3) of the Sixteen Points Agreement of 1960 and the proposed Frontier Nagaland Autonomous Council.
“As a citizen of India and also an indigenous inhabitant of Nagaland, I take this opportunity to point out the difference between the Regional Council appeared at no.10(3) of the Sixteen Points Agreement of 1960 and Creation of Frontier Nagaland Autonomous Council 2023. It is both historical and political reality which cannot be denied by anyone,” Jamir had said.
He posed a larger question: “We are talking about autonomy of the Frontier Nagaland but what happened to the autonomy of Nagaland guaranteed under the Constitution? Who is at fault?”
Jamir had described Nagaland as “a land of factions and groups, multiple authorities without any authority, and misgovernance and corruption of the highest order.”
Nagaland’s Next Stage: From Insurgency to Radical Regionalism
Politics, Memories and the Eastern Leadership
Chishi also recalled his long political association with eastern Nagaland leaders, including Sedem Khaming, Chingwang Konyak and Chongshen.
Recounting the political manoeuvring of 1990, Chishi said 12 dissidents were hiding in a particular bungalow while discussing a new legislature group and its leadership. Neiphiu Rio was also among them.
Chishi recalled suggesting that the group be called the Congress Regional and that Chongshen become its leader. Both suggestions were accepted, he said, resulting in Chongshen becoming his deputy chief minister — the only deputy chief minister from the eastern region, according to his recollection.
Chishi also recalled his schooldays with Chingwang Konyak at St Anthony’s in Shillong and their subsequent political battles.
He remembered the launch of the NDM in 1997, describing how journalists who travelled from Kohima to Dimapur found there were not even cold drinks available during the summer event. The NDM, which had boycotted the 1998 Assembly elections along with the BJP, NPC and Janata Dal, later won five seats in the 2003 polls.
Chingwang Konyak came close to becoming chief minister but lost the Wakching Assembly election to P. Enyie Konyak.
The political history, memories and grievances surrounding eastern Nagaland therefore remain intertwined with the current push for a new administrative arrangement.
With the Frontier Nagaland Territorial Authority Bill now set for passage, the region stands at another historic moment — one that carries both the prospect of celebration and the weight of decades of political anguish and questions over governance.
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