VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 8/5/09)—In June, the top leaders of the Naga insurgent factions came together and made an important step toward peace, despite over 30 years of internecine warfare, by signing a Covenant of Reconciliation. For the first time in this struggle, all the major leaders have publicly committed to the reconciliation process.
American Baptist International Ministries (IM) global consultant Dan Buttry was instrumental in the process that led to this milestone, being deeply involved with the Naga people and their leaders for over 12 years.
Buttry acknowledges that there is still a long way to go, beginning with practical details of keeping various factions from engaging in military actions. The negotiations with India regarding a political solution need to be pursued, but the questions of who represents the Naga side and how consultation takes places between the negotiators and the Naga public is full of political complexities.
“Eventually there is a hope for demobilization of the armed groups, including the removal of the Indian Army,” Buttry said. “But that will come after many of these practical questions have been worked through successfully.”
While the United Nations accomplishes similar outcomes in different parts of the world, and are often covered by the world media, missionaries like Buttry do the same without the resources or muscle of the world’s nations behind them. And they do so quietly and humbly.
Buttry’s work in peace and justice issues have taken him around the world for the past 20 years, but the peace process for the Naga people in northeast India and northwest Burma have been a focus for him since November, 1996.
Though classless and casteless, Naga society has been wracked with divisions due to the ongoing Indo-Naga conflict.
“Despite the strong faith that these people possess, with 80% of Nagas describing themselves as Baptist,” Buttry said. “Their faith is tested daily as chronic conflict occasionally spills over into violent outbreaks.”
The Indo-Naga conflict stems from the incorporation of the Naga people into India by the British in the 1800s, and their reluctant inclusion in the country following India’s independence from British rule in 1947. Fiercely independent, the Naga people began an insurgent war against India military occupation in 1955, with temporary ceasefires and sporadic negotiations along the way.
The current internal divisions within the Nagas resulted from the 1975 Shillong Accord, a peace agreement with India that many Nagas felt did not fairly represent the will of their people. Fallout from this agreement led to factionalism among the Nagas, which in turn resulted in bloody internal conflict rivalling that with India. In effect, ethnic Nagas were not only fighting a common enemy, they also fought just as bitterly with one another, leaving deep divisions and thousands dead.
In 1997, Buttry along with Ken Sehested, then executive director of the Baptist Peace Fellowship, and John Sundquist, then executive director of IM, joined with Wati Aier, leader of the Naga mediation team, for talks aimed at finding reconciliation among the four largest factions. Though not all of the groups attended, an appeal was drafted that would set the stage for future efforts.
Over the years, the group continued to press for peace and saw periodic ceasefires that were punctuated by assassinations and firefights. During this time, Buttry and his colleagues trained the Naga societal leaders (church leaders, human rights activists, women's leaders, student activists, and civic leaders) in conflict transformation: how to turn conflicts from destructive negative experiences into constructive positive experiences using nonviolent biblically-based means.
In time, these leaders began to affect the internal debate by representing an organized, vocal and focused civil society that had grown tired of the unending violence.
Then, in 2008, a series of meetings in Chiang Mai, Thailand, brought together the faction leaders, societal leaders, and traditional tribal leaders. After a decade of work starting from the ground up, the atmosphere was finally conducive to change.
The basis for reconciliation was established in what became known as a Covenant of Common Hope, complete with action steps and tangible commitments by all parties.
An innovative tool conceived by Wati Aier and used by the team was a simple soccer game which paired former rivals on the same teams. The practical application of teamwork was more easily achieved on the playing field by faction leaders than in any meeting room, and it opened their eyes and hearts to the possibilities of reconciliation.
Other soccer matches were organized by Zhabu Terhuja, of the Nagaland Baptist Church Council, to broaden the effect leading up to games held in major stadiums in Kohima and Diampur with thousands coming to watch.
The June signing of the Covenant of Reconciliation is the next step on the way to a full and lasting peace among the Naga people.
Contributions to support Buttry’s ongoing work with the Nagas can be sent via check with a memo "for support of Dan Buttry" to International Ministries, P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482. Donations can also be made with a credit card on the IM website, at http://www.internationalministries.org/give (under the "Global Consultants" category).
American Baptist International Ministries, organized in 1814, is the first Baptist mission agency formed in North America. We serve more than 2,500 short-term and long-term missionaries annually, bringing U.S. and Puerto Rico churches together with partners in over 70 countries in cutting-edge ministries that tell the good news of Jesus Christ while meeting human needs.
American Baptist Churches is one of the most diverse Christian denominations today, with 5,500 local congregations comprised of 1.3 million members across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged in God’s mission around the world.