>APPU at 09:39, 13 January 2022

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{{Use Indian English|date=October 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name =
| birth_name = Zapu Phizo
| birth_date = 16 May 1913{{citation needed|date=April 2019}}
| birth_place = [[Khonoma]], [[Nagaland]] , [[India]]
| death_date = 30 April 1990 (aged 76)
| death_place = [[Bromley]], [[London]], [[United Kingdom]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kamrupee |title=Passing of Phizo |journal=Economic & Political Weekly |date=1990 |volume=25 |issue=18/19 |page=983}}</ref>
| resting place = A. Z. Phizo Memorial, [[Kohima]], [[Nagaland]]
| known for = Leader of [[Naga nationalism|Naga Nationalist Movement]]
}}
'''Angami Zapu Phizo''' (1913–1990) was a [[Naga people|Naga]] [[Naga nationalism|nationalist]] leader with British Nationality. Under his influence, the [[Naga National Council]] asserted the right to self-determination which took the shape of armed resistance after the Indian state imposed the Armed Forces Special Powers Act in 1958. Naga secessionist groups regard him as the "Father of the Naga Nation".

==Early life==
Angami Zapu Phizo belonged to the Merhüma ''khel'' ([[clan]]) of [[Khonoma]] Village of [[Angami Naga]] tribe.<ref name="Guha-IndiaAfterGandhi">{{cite book
| last = Guha
| first = Ramachandra
| title = India After Gandhi
| publisher = Pan Macmillan Ltd., London
| year = 2007
| isbn = 978-0-330-50554-3
| pages = 269–278
|author-link=Ramachandra Guha
}}</ref> He had collaborated with the [[Imperial Japanese Army|Japanese army]] in [[Burma]].<ref>{{cite book | title = Hill Politics in Northeast India | author = S.K. Chaube | publisher = Orient Longman | year = 1999 | isbn = 81-250-1695-3| page = 156 }}</ref> His face was heavily twisted following a childhood paralytic attack.{{Sfn|Guha|2017|p=264}}

==Political life==
As the British were preparing for their withdrawal from India, Phizo separately met the indigenous [[Assamese people|Assamese]], [[Garo people|Garos]], [[Khasi people|Khasis]], [[Lushai]]s, [[Galo tribe|Abors]], [[Mishmi people|Mishmi]]s and [[Meitei people|Meiteis]] leaders in an attempt to convince them to form independent countries of their own, instead of joining the proposed Union of India. However, his efforts failed. On 14 August 1947, one day before India gained its independence, Phizo declared the independence of Naga region.<ref name="UNPO_Yearbook_1996">{{cite book
| editor = Christopher A Mullen
| title = [[Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization|UNPO]] Yearbook, 1996
| publisher = Kluwer Law International
| year = 1997
| oclc = 39055035
| isbn = 978-90-411-0439-7
}}</ref>

Phizo's influence in the [[Naga National Council]] (NNC) increased in late 1940s, after the NNC secretary Imti Aliba Ao retired from politics for an appointment in the Indian Frontier Administrative Services.
Phizo was incarcerated in Calcutta's Presidency Jail in 1948 on charges of stirring trouble in the Indo-Burma borderland. After his release from the jail, he became the fourth president and the main ideologue of the National Naga Council.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wouters |first1=Jelle J. P. |title=In the shadows of Naga insurgency : tribes, state, and violence in India's northeast |date=2018 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New Delhi |isbn=9780199485703 |page=10}}</ref> Phizo became the NNC Chairman in October–November 1949 after defeating Vizar Angami of Zakhama village by a margin of one vote.<ref name="SK_Chaube_Naga_Politics">{{cite book
| last = Chaube
| first = Shibani Kinkar
| title = Hill politics in Northeast India
| publisher = Orient Longman
| orig-year = 1973
| year = 1999
| oclc = 42913576
| isbn = 81-250-1695-3
| pages = 153–161
}}</ref> Under his leadership, the NNC inclined towards seeking secession from India. Phizo urged the Naga people to boycott the Indian elections. He met the Indian [[Prime Minister of India|Prime Minister]] [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] in December 1951 near Tezpur in Assam, in March 1952 at Delhi, and in July 1952 at Dibrugarh.<ref name="SK_Chaube_Naga_Politics"/> He also met with [[Jaipal Singh]] in 1952.<ref>{{cite book|title=India after Gandhi|author=Ramachandra Gujarat|year=2007|publisher=HarperCollins|page=275}}</ref> He was arrested in Burma for [[illegal entry]].

In September 1954, Phizo formed the "People's Sovereign Republic of Free Nagaland", with the support of Chang chiefs of [[Tuensang]].<ref name="SK_Chaube_Naga_Politics"/> He also reorganized the NNC setup, as the chances of a peaceful settlement declined.

In 1955, the Angami leaders T. Sakhrie (who had served the secretary of NNC since its inception) and [[John Bosco Jasokie|J. B. Jasokie]] broke off with Phizo at a meeting in the Khonoma village. Phizo got Sakhrie murdered in January 1956.<ref name="SK_Chaube_Naga_Politics"/> On 22 March 1956 he formed the "Naga Central Government", which was later renamed to "Federal Government of Nagaland" (FGN) in 1959. The new organization had a military wing.

Phizo escaped to [[East Pakistan]] (present-day Bangladesh) in December 1956, from where he went to [[London]].<ref name="integration_north_east">{{cite web
|url = http://www.ide.go.jp/English/Publish/Jrp/pdf/jrp_133_01.pdf
|title = Integration of the North East: the State Formation Process
|publisher = Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization
|access-date = 2008-03-20
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071030212058/http://www.ide.go.jp/English/Publish/Jrp/pdf/jrp_133_01.pdf
|archive-date = 30 October 2007
|url-status = dead}}</ref> He continued supporting the secessionist movement in [[Nagaland]], until his death in exile, in [[London]] in 1990. He had 11 children.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130429/jsp/northeast/story_16837685.jsp#.VBNONmPCX3g |title=Nagaland pays tribute to Phizo son |date=2013-04-29 |newspaper=The Telegraph }}</ref> When he escaped from the erstwhile Naga Hills to East Pakistan, he did not have an Indian passport. After acquiring a British passport while in London, the Indian embassy refused to issue him a visa to visit India.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Haksar |first1=Nandita |last2=Hongray |first2=Sebastian M. |title=Kuknalim: Naga Armed Resistance |date=2019 |publisher=Speaking Tiger |location=New Delhi |isbn=9789388874915 |page=166}}</ref>
[[Khodao Yanthan]] said later, "Mr. Phizo was a perfect Naga leader. I don't believe there will be any Naga leader like Mr. Phizo."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Haksar |first1=Nandita |last2=Hongray |first2=Sebastian M. |title=Kuknalim: Naga Armed Resistance |date=2019 |publisher=Speaking Tiger |location=New Delhi |isbn=9789388874915 |page=167}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Naga National Council]]
* [[Khonoma]]

==References==
{{reflist}}{{Cite book|last=Guha|first=Ramachandra|title=[[India After Gandhi]]|publisher=Pan Macmillan|year=2017|isbn=9789382616979|language=en|author-link=Ramachandra Guha}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |author=Pieter Steyn |title=Zapuphizo: Voice of the Nagas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2OShAAdAuN8C&pg=PA52 |year=2002 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-7103-0506-0 |pages=52 }}

==External links==
* [http://www.neuenhofer.de/guenter/nagaland/phizo.html Plebiscite speech of Phizo]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070311203206/http://www.kamat.com/database/pictures/batch1-102.htm Picture of Phizo at Kamat.com]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phizo, Angami Zapu}}
[[Category:1903 births]]
[[Category:1990 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian Baptists]]
[[Category:People from Kohima district]]
[[Category:Indian exiles]]
[[Category:Indian independence activists from Nagaland]]
[[Category:20th-century Baptists]]
[[Category:Naga nationalism]]

Angami Zapu Phizo - Revision history

>APPU at 09:39, 13 January 2022