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The long-running political movement in North East India seeking Naga autonomy and identity, now centred on a stalled peace process over a separate Naga flag and constitution.
The Naga Movement is a political movement in North East India in which Naga groups have demanded greater autonomy and the protection of their distinct identity. Beginning before independence and developing into an armed struggle after 1947, it became one of India's longest-running internal security challenges. Successive governments have sought resolution through ceasefires, talks and agreements, most notably the Framework Agreement signed with the NSCN-IM in 2015. The process remains unresolved, stalled principally on the demand for a separate Naga flag and constitution.
Type: PhenomenonThe Nagas are a tribal community living mainly in the hill and mountain areas of North East India and parts of Myanmar, with a total population of around 2.5 million.
Most Nagas live in Nagaland, with significant populations in Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.
They are divided into several major tribes, each with its own name, culture and language, and are generally regarded as belonging to the Indo-Mongoloid group.
The movement developed in two broad phases — a pre-independence phase of political assertion, and a post-1947 phase of armed struggle followed by a peace process.
The Framework Agreement of 3 August 2015 was signed between the Government of India and the NSCN-IM.
A parallel track exists through the Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs), seven groups that signed an Agreed Position in November 2017.
The core unresolved demands are a separate Naga flag and a separate Naga constitution, which the Government of India has rejected.
Frequency: The Naga issue recurs in UPSC Mains GS Paper 3 internal security and GS Paper 2 federalism, and in Prelims questions on Article 371A.
The movement began before independence as an assertion of Naga political distinctiveness, and after 1947 developed into an armed struggle when Naga groups rejected incorporation into the Indian Union. Over decades the state responded with a combination of military operations, statehood for Nagaland, constitutional protection under Article 371A, ceasefires and prolonged negotiation.
Naga political organisations assert a distinct Naga identity and question incorporation into India.
The movement develops into an armed struggle in the Naga Hills.
The Government of India and the NSCN-IM sign the Framework Agreement, intended as the basis for a final settlement.
Seven groups forming the Naga National Political Groups sign an Agreed Position, creating a parallel negotiating track.
Talks stall over the NSCN-IM's demand for a separate Naga flag and constitution, which the Government rejects.
A Myanmar-based breakaway faction of the NSCN-IM under Ikato Chishi Swu declares a 'provisional government', accusing the leadership of accepting proposals that implicitly recognise the Indian Constitution.
Most of what the Naga movement has sought — cultural protection, customary law, local autonomy, a share in resources — can be accommodated within India's constitutional framework, and Article 371A already protects Naga religious and social practices, customary law and land ownership. A separate flag and a separate constitution are different in kind. They are markers of sovereignty rather than of autonomy, and conceding them would imply that Nagaland's relationship with India rests on something other than the Indian Constitution. That is why the NSCN-IM reads the 2015 Framework Agreement as conceding 'shared sovereignty' while New Delhi rejects that reading. The deadlock is therefore not about how much self-government the Nagas receive, but about the source of the authority under which they receive it.
Two parties can agree on every clause of a contract and still fail to sign if they disagree about who has the authority to write the contract in the first place.
The Naga issue matters for three reasons that examiners look for. First, duration: it is among the oldest unresolved insurgencies in India, which makes it a case study in the limits of both military and negotiated approaches. Second, geography: the Naga population spans Nagaland, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh as well as parts of Myanmar, so any territorial settlement affects neighbouring states that have their own objections to redrawing boundaries, and touches India's border with Myanmar. Third, fragmentation: the existence of two negotiating tracks — the NSCN-IM and the NNPGs — and the emergence of a breakaway faction in 2026 illustrate a recurring problem in peace processes, namely that agreement with one faction can produce splits rather than settlement, as hardliners break away accusing the leadership of conceding too much.
Naga Movement — demands for autonomy and protection of Naga identity in North East India.
Naga population around 2.5 million, mainly in Nagaland, also Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Myanmar.
Framework Agreement signed 3 August 2015 with the NSCN-IM.
NNPGs — seven groups — signed an Agreed Position in November 2017.
Deadlock: separate Naga flag and constitution, rejected by the Government of India.
NSCN-IM claims the Framework Agreement conceded 'shared sovereignty'; New Delhi disputes this.
2026 — Myanmar-based breakaway faction under Ikato Chishi Swu declares a 'provisional government'.
Article 371A gives Nagaland special constitutional protection.
It was signed on 3 August 2015 between the Government of India and the NSCN-IM, and was intended as the basis for a final settlement of the Naga political issue.
The principal deadlock is over the NSCN-IM's demand for a separate Naga flag and constitution, which the Government of India has rejected as incompatible with the Indian constitutional framework.
The Naga National Political Groups are seven groups brought together by the Government, which signed an Agreed Position in November 2017, creating a negotiating track parallel to the NSCN-IM channel.
Mainly in the hill and mountain areas of North East India and parts of Myanmar. Of a total population of around 2.5 million, most live in Nagaland, with others in Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.