INDIA: Revolt in the Hills

Among the tribes that jealously rule the steep hills flanking the Assam Valley on India's strategic northeast frontier, none are so colorfully and fiercely independent as the Nagas. Nearly half a century of British law and the influence of U.S. Baptist missionaries have moderated their fondness for lopping off neighbors' heads, but the Nagas have never swerved from their desire to be King of the Mountains. After the British pulled out of India, the Indian government offered the Nagas tribal autonomy under New Delhi. Replied a Naga spokesman: "White man was never king over us. Now black men...

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