>J4joeyrod: /* Chief Minister */ the next election after losing the CM's position

2022-01-08T05:18:20Z

Chief Minister: the next election after losing the CM's position

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{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2018}}

{{Infobox officeholder
| name = P. Shilu Ao
| image =
| caption =
| birthname = P. Shilu Ao
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1916|12|24 |df=y}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1988|09|19|1916|12|24|df=y}}
| birth_place = Longjang, [[Mokokchung District]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British Raj|British India]]
| residence =
| death_place = [[Mokokchung]], [[Nagaland]], India
| order = 1st
| office = Chief Minister of Nagaland
| governor = [[Vishnu Sahay]]
| constituency = Impur
| term_start = 1 December 1963
| term_end =14 August 1966
| predecessor = ''Office Established''
| successor = [[T. N. Angami]]
| party = [[Naga People's Convention]],<br> [[Naga Nationalist Organisation]]
| religion =
| spouse =
| alma_mater = [[Cotton University]], [[Gauhati University]]
| website =
| footnotes =
| date =
| year =
| source =
}}
'''P. Shilu Ao''' (24 December 1916 – 19 September 1988) was a [[Naga people|Naga]] politician who was involved in the negotiations leading to the creation of [[Nagaland]], in the north-eastern part of India, as one of the [[states and territories of India]] in December 1963. Ao then served as the first Chief Minister of Nagaland until August 1966. Ao played a part in persuading the Indian Government and the Lok Sabha to grant Nagaland separate statehood but was not able to reconcile many Naga nationalists who regarded him and his party, as stooges of the central government.<ref>Nag, pp. 270-271</ref>

== Early life ==
Ao was born in the Longjang village of the [[Mokokchung district|district of Mokokchung]] to Metongchiba Pongen and Melungnenla Imchen on 24 December 1916.<ref name="Shilu Ao Reference1" /> He was schooled at the [[Impur]] Mission School<ref name="Shilu Ao Reference1" /><ref>{{cite news|title=CMHSS Impur: The Oldest School in Nagaland|url=http://www.theindiapost.com/nation/nagaland/cmhss-impur-the-oldest-school-in-nagaland|accessdate=20 January 2013|newspaper=The India Post|date=6 June 2008}}</ref>where he passed his class VI in 1st division in 1934<ref name="Shilu Ao Reference1" />,and did his matriculation from Jorhat Mission School in 1st Division which was also regarded as one of the biggest achievements of his time<ref name="Shilu Ao Reference1" /> and later completed his Intermediate Arts and a [[bachelor's degree]] in Arts in year 1952<ref name="Shilu Ao Reference1" /> and a law degree from the [[Cotton College, Guwahati]] and the [[Guwahati University]].<ref name="Shilu Ao Reference1" /> He also served as a primary school teacher in the year 1939 and 1940 at his native village Longjang on monthly salary of Rs 10.<ref name="Shilu Ao Reference1" /> He later taught at Impur Mission School from 1941 to 1947 after his Intermediate education.<ref name="Shilu Ao Reference1" /> He also pursued and completed his Bachelor of Teaching from [[Shillong]] in year 1953.<ref name="Shilu Ao Reference1" /> Like the majority of Naga people, he was a [[Christian]] and was Chairman/President of the Ao Christian Mungdang (ABAM) Platinum Jubilee Celebration in year 1946.<ref name="Shilu Ao Reference1" /> He then worked as a school teacher, as a headmaster and the Inspector of Schools at [[Kohima]] from year 1948 to year 1949.<ref name="Shilu Ao Reference1" /> Having joined the administrative service of [[Assam]] in 1954, Ao served as an assistant commissioner and first-class magistrate with the [[Government of Assam]] from 1954 to 1960.<ref name="nagalandpost">{{cite news|title='P Shilu Ao', a legend... gone and forgotten|url=http://www.nagalandpost.com/SundayPost/ArticleShow.aspx?sid=UzEwMDAwMDExNg%3D%3D-d22Yml5Fj0A%3D|accessdate=20 January 2013|newspaper=Nagaland Post|date=11 August 2012}}</ref> He also served as Pastor-in-Charge of Kohima Ao Baptist Church from year 1948 to year 1949.<ref name="Shilu Ao Reference1" /> In the year 1950 to 1952 he also served as Headmaster of Government Middle School, Wokha.<ref name="Shilu Ao Reference1" /> He served under Government of Assam as EAC cum First Class Magistrate during years 1954 to 1960.<ref name="Shilu Ao Reference1" />

== Career ==

=== Politics ===
In 1960, Ao resigned from government service and entered politics joining the [[Naga People's Convention]] (NPC).<ref name="Shilu Ao Reference1" /> The Naga inhabited regions of Assam had been racked by insurgency ever since [[India's independence]] in 1947 with the [[Naga National Council]] under [[Angami Zapu Phizo]] calling for Naga independence from India. The Convention, established in 1954, however, took a moderate stance calling for the establishment of a separate administrative unit within Assam by merging the [[Tuensang|Tuensang division]] of [[North-East Frontier Agency]] (NEFA) with the [[Naga Hills District, British India|Naga Hills District]] of Assam. The [[Government of India]] agreed to this demand in 1957, creating the [[Naga Hills]] and Tuensang Area. In 1960, [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] met an NPC delegation, and the Government of India and the NPC signed a 16-point resolution, which called for the establishment of a [[Nagaland|state of Nagaland]]. Nehru announced the acceptance of this resolution in [[Parliament of India|Parliament]] on 1 August 1960.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Quest for Naga Accord|url=http://thecalibre.in/in-depth-current-affairs/the-quest-for-naga-accord/102012/?p=1830/|accessdate=20 January 2013|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130218021744/http://thecalibre.in/in-depth-current-affairs/the-quest-for-naga-accord/102012/?p=1830/#|archive-date=18 February 2013|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Ao was part of the NPC team that drafted the resolution and met with Nehru and was one of the signatories of the accord reached between the Nagas and the Indian government.<ref name="nagalandpost" />

=== Chief Minister ===

In February 1961, under the Nagaland Regulation Act, a 42-member Interim Body with a five-member Executive Council was set up with Ao as the Chief Executive Councillor.<ref name="Shilu Ao Reference1" /> Under the Nagaland Act of 1962 the state of Nagaland with its capital at Kohima came into being on 1 December 1963 and the process of conversion of Naga Hills district of Assam to Nagaland took place.<ref name="Shilu Ao Reference1" /> He bravely worked for the welfare of the Naga people in the midst of tremendous hurdles.<ref name="Shilu Ao Reference1" /> In the first state elections of Nagaland in the year 1964 he was elected from Impur Assembly constituency as member of Legislative Assembly.<ref name="Shilu Ao Reference1" /> The Interim Body and the Executive Council became the [[Nagaland Legislative Assembly]] and the Nagaland Cabinet and a five-member ministry with Ao as the first Chief Minister<ref name="Shilu Ao Reference1">{{cite news |title=A Befitting monument for the first Chief Minister of Nagaland |url=https://easternmirrornagaland.com/a-befitting-monument-for-the-first-chief-minister-of-nagaland/ |access-date=25 February 2021 |publisher=easternmirrornagaland.com |date=10 August 2014}}</ref> was sworn in by [[Vishnu Sahay]], the [[Governor of Nagaland|Governor of Assam and Nagaland]] the same day. Ao served as leader of the house of the Nagaland Assembly for 5 years from 1961 to 1966 and as Chief Minister of Nagaland from 1 December 1963, to 14 August 1966, during which time he also led the [[Naga Nationalist Organisation]] (NNO) to victory in the first Nagaland Assembly elections of 1964.<ref>{{cite web|title=Chief Minister of Nagaland|url=http://nagaland.gov.in/portal/portal/StatePortal/default/Print/SPContentPrintPortletInstanceWindow?action=2&fileName=ChiefMinister&description=Chief%20Minister&print=yes&windowMode=maxmimum|accessdate=20 January 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Nagaland Legislative Assembly|url=http://legislativebodiesinindia.nic.in/STATISTICAL/NAGALAND.htm|accessdate=20 January 2013}}</ref><ref name="books.google">{{cite book|last=Prakash|first=Ved|title=Encyclopaedia of North-East India, Volume 5|year=2007|publisher=Atlantic Publishers|location=New Delhi|pages=1933, 1934|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ixSANFgMjW0C&q=p+shilu+ao&pg=PA1934|isbn=9788126907076}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Kumar|first=B B|title=Naga Identity|year=2005|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|location=New Delhi|pages=160|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CM7uC2W58wcC&q=p+shilu+ao&pg=PA159|isbn=9788180691928}}</ref>

Ao's government passed a resolution in 1964 calling for the integration of [[Nagalim|all Naga inhabited regions with Nagaland]] and in May 1964 a ceasefire agreement was concluded between the Naga insurgents and the Government of India which was formally declared on 6th September 1966.<ref name="Shilu Ao Reference1" /> Ao had attended the negotiations only as an observer on the government side, as the insurgents refused to recognize his state government.<ref>Nag, p. 271</ref> The same year, he also survived an [[assassination]] attempt.<ref name="nagalandpost" /><ref name="books.google" /><ref>{{cite news|title=All unquiet on the Naga front|url=http://www.firstpost.com/blogs/all-unquiet-on-the-naga-front-19975.html|accessdate=20 January 2013|newspaper=First Post|date=3 June 2011}}</ref> Although the NNO held an absolute majority in the Nagaland Legislative Assembly following the elections of 1964, Ao's government was voted out in a [[no-confidence motion]] introduced in the Assembly in August 1966. Following Ao's ouster, he was succeeded by his NNO colleague and [[Speaker of the house]] [[T.N. Angami]] as Chief Minister.<ref>{{cite book|last=Murry|first=Khochamo Chonzamo|title=Naga Legislative Assembly And Its Speakers|year=2007|publisher=Mittal Publications|location=New Delhi|pages=131|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zjxPSlVqiaYC&q=p+shilu+ao&pg=PR15|isbn=9788183241267}}</ref>

In 1969, Ao contested for the Impur constituency seat as an Independent. He lost to the sitting MLA M. Koramoa Jamir of the Naga Nationalist Organisation by 162 votes.<ref>{{Cite news|last=The Times of India News Service|date=12 February 1969|title=Shilu Ao defeated in home town: Nagaland poll|page=13|work=[[Times of India]]}}</ref>

=== Commissions ===

Following his resignation as Chief Minister, Ao was appointed chairman of the [[National Commission for Scheduled Castes]] [[National Commission for Scheduled Tribes|and Scheduled Tribes]] in 1966.<ref name="Shilu Ao Reference1" /> He headed a committee set up by the [[Planning Commission (India)|Planning Commission]] to appraise the functioning of tribal development programs in the Third Five Year Plan.<ref name="Shilu Ao Reference1" /> The committee made several recommendations on tribal welfare policy, classification of tribes and on protective and administrative measures for tribal communities.<ref name="nagalandpost" /><ref>{{cite book|last=Mehta|first=P C|title=Development Of Indian Tribes|year=2006|publisher=Discovery Publishing House|location=New Delhi|pages=102|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yUPSdpVOrsAC&q=p+shilu+ao&pg=PA102|isbn=9788183561129}}</ref> In subsequent elections to the Nagaland Legislative Assembly, Ao performed poorly, but he remained a senior party leader of the opposition [[United Front of Nagaland]] for several years.<ref name="nagalandpost" />

== Death ==

Ao died at [[Mokokchung]] on 19 September 1988,<ref name="Shilu Ao Reference1" /> following a prolonged period of ill health, and was buried with state honors two days later at his native village, Longjang, in the Mokokchung district. As head of the NPC, Ao enabled Naga politics to adapt to and adopt successfully the Indian parliamentary democratic model of governance, despite problems with insurgent groups continuing.<ref>{{cite web|title=Operation hornbill festival 2004|url=http://www.india-seminar.com/2005/550/550%20dolly%20kikon.htm|publisher=Seminar|accessdate=20 January 2013}}</ref> In 2004, [[John Bosco Jasokie|J B Jasokie]] a former Chief Minister of Nagaland revealed that he had voluntarily stepped aside to allow Ao to become the state's first chief minister on account of the latter's seniority and perfect understanding, despite having won more votes among the legislators than Ao.<ref>{{cite news|title=Many precious years and money gone that could have prospered Nagaland: Jasokie|url=http://www.e-pao.net/GP.asp?src=11.11.170204.feb04|accessdate=20 January 2013|date=7 February 2004}}</ref>

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==
* Nag, Sajal, ''Contesting Marginality: Ethnicity, Insurgence and Subnationalism in North-East India'', Technical Publications, 2002, {{ISBN|8173044279}}, 9788173044274

{{Chief Ministers of Nagaland}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ao, P. Shilu}}
[[Category:1916 births]]
[[Category:1988 deaths]]
[[Category:Naga people]]
[[Category:People from Mokokchung district]]
[[Category:Chief Ministers of Nagaland]]
[[Category:Nagaland politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian politicians]]
[[Category:Nagaland MLAs 1964–1969]]

P. Shilu Ao - Revision history

>J4joeyrod: /* Chief Minister */ the next election after losing the CM's position