The naga nation on the net

This paper explores the use of the internet for nation-building in Nagaland by groups which have been engaged in a power struggle with the union of India. It looks at the perpetuation of Naga nationalism in the framework of Laclau and Mouffe's discourse theory and Gramsci's concept of hegemony. Building upon earlier studies that have established the potential of the internet to promote nationalist ideologies, it brings to light how particular political ideologies are constructed and reinforced through the internet to address issues intrinsic to the Nagas who have historically lived independently with little interaction with non-Naga groups. The nationalist ideology placed in the context of discourse theory is methodologically approached through analysis of texts in political web sites dedicated to the Naga issue. demand for a union of all the Naga inhabited areas surrou din the present so-called "neocolonial" structure of Nagaland as recognised by the government of India, presents i self as a problem which has largely been ignored by the owers that be as well as the mainstream media [Bezboruah 2006]. Historically, the Naga with limited interaction with nonNaga groups re ained an independe t entity until they were annexed, first by the British and later by India (ibid). When the Naga intellect d cided to invoke nation ood, there began a power struggl that has by and large remained unm nitored by the rest of the world, including the dominant media in India. It is in this con ext that a study of Naga nationalism perpetuated through the use of the internet becomes significant. Today the "internet" as been restructur d a a generic label that "refers to the electronic sys em and space where many people can present their idea to produce a new computer 're lity' which is the sum of the variou opini ns, ideas, practices and ideologies" generated by millions w o use this medium [Mitra 1997]. The "data" has now taken the shape of perceivable messages converting the internet into a mass medium where ideologies are expressed, ideas are formed and public opinion is generated a part of Habermas' "public sphere" which delineates public opinion with its consequent transformation and creation of identity and identity politics.1 Drawing from B Anderson's seminal work, Imagined Communities, this paper explores the hegemonic articulation and the antagonistic dynamic between the Indian nation state and the minority Naga nationalism online [Anderson 1991]. Among the host of Naga nationalist web sites a purposive sample of three has been selected for rhetorical analysis.2