KOHIMA: Kezhaleo Rülho doesn’t shy away from disputes. One of the biggest contractors in Nagaland, the 37-year-old oversees a maze of men and machines undertaking infrastructure work ranging from building roads and bridges to government buildings. On his contact sheet are top politicians and government officials as well as separatist leaders who have all to be kept in good humour in the restive border state. Disagreements about payments and deadlines are common, as are flared tempers and eventual compromises.
The Naga movement started before independence, led by the Naga National Council (NNC). (HT photo sourced)
But July 13 was different. That day, as his phone started buzzing, Rulho knew something was wrong. His phone was flooding with messages from friends and family, all worried about his safety, all advising him to seek safety. The reason — an irate separatist group, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K/Khango), had issued him a death threat for not complying with what the outfit called “non-cooperation” from the contractor. The caller, who identified himself as “Mr Max of NSCN-K/Khango” said he had “only” contributed ₹5 lakh as “tax” for five projects in Nagaland and later “challenged the government”.
Over the next four days, Rülho tried to contact the person but his line was off. When “Mr Max” called back Rülho’s site engineer on July 20 and gave him a deadline of one more day, Rülho called back immediately, and was threatened to either pay the “tax” within 15 days or meet the “death penalty/capital punishment”.
Such illegal “tax” demands from separatist outfits are common in Nagaland where unbridled collections and coercion by Naga nationalist and separatist groups have skirted the line between taxation and extortion for decades.
But as Rulho went into hiding, something shifted in the northeastern state of two million. Community bodies came out in rare defiance, organising strikes and protests that pushed back against the “tax” demands. Even the state government condemned the threat.
“The State Government vehemently condemns the recent sequence of events involving NSCN Khango where a death threat/capital punishment was issued to K. Rülho, proprietor of M/S KKB Rülho,” a statement from deputy chief minister Yanthungo Patton said.
The unprecedented protests, the first in almost a decade, are attempting to shake up an uneasy status quo in a state where separatist demands predate independence, and where revenue demands by many militant groups blight both ordinary life and the rule of law.
A long history of nationalism, and its connection with levies
The Naga movement started before independence, led by the Naga National Council (NNC). The first written document citing self-determination of the Nagas dates back to 1929 when the imperial Simon Commission came to India. In 1947, the Naga leaders declared independence a day before India, seeking exclusion from the Indian Union and birthing a violent agitation. Nagaland state was created in 1963.
“Taxation can be traced back to an erstwhile house tax in Naga villages levied by NNC which was then the only group leading the movement. Nagas willingly paid and even provided the fighters with rations and supplies,” said K Angami, a political analyst.
Subsequently, ideology and leadership issues cleaved the movement, and with the passage of time, the house tax token was shifted to commercial establishments which were more lucrative, he added. And with it, came the fear.
“Naga nationalism started with good intent. In the early days, our people shared with the national workers what we had, and we used to have deep respect for them. But today, we are wary of them,” said Dr. Khekugha Muru, president of Confederation of Nagaland Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Today, Nagaland has 26 rebel groups, out of which five have currently negotiated ceasefire with the Government of India. Each of these groups runs a parallel government of sorts and levies “taxes” on residents. These “taxes”, also called “voluntary contributions” are collected supposedly for the sustenance of the outfits, but also function, according to K Angami, as modes of extortion especially of the business community.
Such illegal taxation is prevalent across the Northeast but in states such as Assam, Manipur and Meghalaya, the phenomenon is limited to some pockets. In Nagaland, everyone has to pay, though the government doesn’t acknowledge it.
“Nagaland government does not support, and is fully against any illegal taxation or forcible collection by any group or entity or individual in the state,” home commissioner Vikieyie Kenya said.
In 2013, a people’s movement called Against Corruption and Unabated Taxation (ACAUT) was formed by members of different communities and backgrounds to protest against the rampant taxation by armed groups. ACAUT garnered the support of the public and taxpayers but the movement fizzled out after some of its leaders joined electoral politics in the recent years.
After a decade, the protests are swelling again. Despite the might of the Khango Konyak-led Khaplang faction of the NSCN — it is one of the five NSCN factions in a ceasefire agreement with the Government of India — people have hit the streets.
The Angami Youth Organization (AYO) openly denounced the death threat and announced an indefinite non-cooperation with the militant group. The youth body also immediately recalled all members of its community associated with the group. It is one of the major tribes in the state.
The NSCN-K (Khango) hit back, accusing AYO of supporting the actions of the contractor without substantive understanding or assertion of facts regarding the matter.
On August 6, undeterred by the incessant downpour, local communities from different districts amassed in the heart of Kohima town, clad in their respective tribal attire in solidarity with a public rally called by AYO. The crowd of more than a thousand people from various communities was unprecedented for Nagaland.
AYO submitted a memorandum to governor La Ganesan, asking the central government to enforce the ceasefire rules that prohibits any extortion in the name of donations and confines armed cadres to designated camps.
“Angami Youth Organisation is a civil organisation, but we will not hesitate to protect our people at any cost. However, we firmly believe in the responsibility of the government to protect the well being of its citizens and we trust that the government will take all necessary actions,” the memorandum said.
An intricate process of collecting ‘taxes’ from businesses
The collection of illegal tax is an intricate process. The armed groups collect revenues through their respective “finance departments” by way of giving out “information slips” and the amount quoted by the cadres.
A Kohima-based contractor told HT on the condition of anonymity that the transportation of transit goods are charged right from the state’s border with neighbouring Assam. “For every truckload, we pay a common “dalal” (middleman) of the groups that are operational in Dimapur area an amount of Rs.30,000-40,000, depending on the value of goods that are being transported,” said the contractor. He said most contractors try to recover the loss by enhancing the rates of services and products.
Locals said that the illegal taxation is collected at different levels in the state. In residential areas, it is mainly done through local trade unions who mediate between small traders and different groups by collecting a certain uniform amount (between ₹5,000 to ₹10,000) and distribute equally to the militant groups.
For business people including transporters, it is through “information slips” or a demand note submitted by cadre of the armed groups. “The information slip demand could be anything between ₹10,000 to 50,000. The slip is normally signed by an officer in-charge of finances of the group,” a local businessman who had recently received a demand slip of ₹10,000 said.
Each group has appointed armed tax-collectors who take the money in cash annually, usually around June-July.
Peter Rutsa, a local business owner, said that “rampant illegal taxation” led to spike in the prices of goods and had a “negative impact” on trade and commerce, leading to some business establishments closing down as they were not able to meet the money demand. “The illegal taxation is causing divisions between the Nagas who support the groups and those who are fed up of paying multiple groups in the name of Naga nationalism,” he said.
Rutsa said different people deal with the demands differently. “There are those who plead, those who insist and then those who threaten; I deal with them differently but at the end, there is always the bargaining (almost like doing business) and I make it a point to handover a ‘voluntary donation’ and not a demanded amount,” Rutsa said. He added that paying ensures no harassment to employees, physical disruptions to work and end to persistent telephonic calls seeking money.
Locals say the quantum of taxation increased manifold after the ceasefire in 1997 between the Government of India and the Isak-Muivah-led NSCN (NSCN-IM) which gave cadre had the liberty to move around freely with arms without much restriction.
“The government of India, state government and the Ceasefire Monitoring Group/Ceasefire Supervisory Board (CFMG/CFSB) is well aware about the rampant illegal taxation but the will to act upon it or to rein in the recalcitrant cadres have been totally absent,” said a youth leader who did not wish to be named.
No choice but to pay, say local residents
To understand how ordinary people dealt with the illegal demands, HT spoke to several local businessmen, who said they have no choice but to pay. “It’s better to pay than to get in trouble and deal with underground groups,” said a local, requesting anonymity.
Data from the state police headquarters show that there have been a total 32 cases of “underground extortion” registered across the state since January this year, in which 35 cadres from 10 different factions were arrested. However, police say conviction is low as people refuse to appear in court as witnesses, mainly due to fear, and the accused are often let off.
In September 2023, the police launched a mobile application to combat extortion and drug menace by allowing citizens or victims to register complaints or give information. However, it was learnt that due to issues relating to awareness and fear of confidentiality, the response from the public has been low.
“There is neither lack of will, nor capability in Nagaland Police. However, the public has to come forward too. It takes two hands to clap – police and public,” director general of police Rupin Sharma said.
“Merely catching the culprits is not enough – bringing them to book and successful prosecution and punishment is important and for that we need evidence and most importantly witnesses/complainants. That is where we need public to cooperate. On our part we shall ensure secrecy and confidentiality of complainants, witnesses and also informers to help us in the endeavour,” the state police chief said.
Facing public outrage, the government has attempted a crackdown. WHAT minister KG Kenye SAID any acts of threat or coercion, whether by factions in ceasefire or otherwise, are criminal offences and would be dealt with according to the law. “The state government will ensure peace and tranquillity in Nagaland which is essential for economic development and prosperity,” he added.
Last week, the ceasefire monitoring group/ceasefire supervisory board (CFMG/CFSB) chairman lieutenant general (retired) Amarjeet Singh Bedi told journalists that his office took suo motu cognisance of the matter and the NSCN-K (Khango) group will be held accountable to provisions of ceasefire ground rules. He said the outfit had communicated that it functions purely on “voluntary contributions” and their statement to apprise the contractor in question on certain provisions of the outfit’s constitution was misinterpreted as “capital punishment” threat.
Will this moment last?
Senior journalist Temjen Anichar said the people protest may highlight the issue momentarily but it won’t succeed until the Naga political issue is resolved. “As much as we’d want it to succeed, past precedence serves us a sobering dose of reality,” he said.
“The issue of a death threat/death penalty was brought to the knowledge of the AYO office on July 21. Accordingly, the AYO, with its main motive to protect its land and its people, decided to take up the case in order to protect one of its members whose life has been threatened for no valid reasons, but for not meeting the taxation demands of the NSCN-K Khango group,” says Neidilhoutuo Sechü, AYO general secretary.
He expressed that other communities coming together with AYO in one voice to denounce the burden of illegal unabated taxation and threats to public exhibits hope for a more unified and prosperous society.
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