| caption: |
W.G. Archer's visit to the Governor of Assam |
| caption: |
acceptance of the original Kohima agreement |
| text: |
Then he referred to the Naga 'agreement' and for three days Bill was in and out of Government House discussing all the details. It seems that the Assam Premier and Nehru have now accepted the substance of their 'agreement', but the telegram to Pawsey was a mistake. The Governor sees no hope of getting Bardoloi's consent to the phrase 'free to decide their future after ten years - provided they do not leave the Indian Union.' So the Nagas must therefore either accept the original agreement as drafted at Kohima or be content with nothing. If they elect the first course, the Governor will put it into effect at once. He is willing to appoint Mayang as an Additional Sub-divisional Officer at Mokokchung. He will speed up the electoral arrangements and as soon as a Naga council is 'duly elected' will make over the four departments and the courts. 'Tell the Nagas', he said, 'not to worry about money. They can control what they pay for, the rest they can have as they are having now.' Bill says that from his talks with Sir Akbar he is convinced that Nehru himself would never be a conscious party to Assamese oppression. He is obviously acutely alive to the importance of maintaining local cultures. But he cannot bear to think of Nagas as out of the Union. Their first duty in Nehru's view is to make themselves Indians. |
