Last week we saw the instance of an Indian Army Major and four lightly armed sepoys who travelled about 21 km into Burma circa 1969 on a track and report mission, following a group of underground Naga army led by self-styled commander-in-chief Mowu Angami. The Naga group had been travelling through mountainous terrain and thick forests, for over 70 days, from the Yunan province in China where they had received training and arms, carrying a heavy load of weapons and ammunitions with which they would fight the Indian government. The Major had been tracking his quarry which reached Mawkware in Myanmar. There the Nagas split into three groups and headed into India. One of the groups was led by Isak Chishi Swu and counted Thuingaleng Muivah in its ranks as well. This, the Major was to learn later, because the group ran into an army patrol almost as soon as they entered Nagaland near Thanaknyu. Caught unawares, there had been some firing during which both escaped, but they had been recognised. Both Thuingaleng and Swu would go on to become leaders of a breakaway Naga faction, both founding fathers of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland, who would team up with SS Khaplang, a Burmese naga, whose men ambushed and killed 18 soldiers from the Dogra regiment three weeks ago.
The Major followed the largest group which Angami led. It did not follow the usual jungle pathways, choosing instead to hack its own way through the undergrowth. This only made it easier to track them. They entered India near Penking village in the Kiphire subdivision in Tuensang district. For six days, the Major and his men had been shadowing the group. Mowu’s group entered a village called Phisame in Tuensang district where there was a rebel Naga camp. It sat on a hill and had a fence running all around it. It was unclear what kind of armaments there was stocked inside. The orders to army units operating in the area were to let the armed Nagas pass through and enter the camp. Observers had counted around 300 armed Nagas going into Phisame. The brigade headquarters was in Tuensang. Brigadier A S Vaidya, who was later on to become the chief of army staff and conduct operation Blue Star, was the commander. Almost his entire brigade surrounded Phisame. The camp gave a clear line of fire to the armed Nagas. Since the army was at the lower end of the hill, it was not possible to assault the camp. An assault was ruled out because of another factor as well: There were villages close by, populated by Sema Nagas, who were opposed to Mowu, who was a Naga from Kohima. Tired after such a long and arduous trek, there had been divisions within Angami’s men, some of which had their origins in intense tribal rivalries. Angami himself had not wanted to enter Phisame, but he could not carry his command. It was unlikely that the Sema Nagas would go out of their way to help the besieged insurgents. Yet Gen. Vaidya could take no chances. So pamphlets in the local language was airdropped in the surrounding villages warning the villagers to keep off Phisame as it harboured armed insurgents and the army was about to do an operation there. That had the effect of clearing the area. Sorties were flown regularly over the village. It was not clear to the Naga army inside when the attack bombings would begin. Messengers were sent into Phisame to ask Mowu and his men to surrender. (To be continued)
Sudarshan is the author of Anatomy of an Abduction: How the Indian Hostages in Iraq Were Freed sudarshan@newindianexpress.com