Naga Regiment

Naga Regiment
The Regimental Insignia of the Naga Regiment
Active	1970–present
Country	India
Branch	Army
Type	Line Infantry
Role	Infantry
Size	3 battalions
War Cry	Jai Durga Naga (Hail Durga Naga)
Decorations	1 Maha Vir Chakra, 4 Vir Chakras, 1 Yudh Seva Medal, 1 Vishist Seva Medal, 10 Sena Medals
Insignia
Regimental Insignia	A pair of crossed Naga spears and a dao (a cutting weapon used in Nagaland), with a shield bearing a mithun (bull) head.

The Naga Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army. It is among the youngest regiments of the Indian Army - the first battalion (1 Naga) was raised in Ranikhet in 1970. The regiment recruits mainly from Nagaland.

During 1960, the delegation of the Naga Peoples Convention put forward a proposal for a separate regiment to fulfill their desire of playing a greater role in the Defence Forces of India. The Naga Regiment was the first infantry regiment to be raised in post-independence India. In 1957, when the Naga Hills area was simmering with insurgency, a convention of the Naga people took place and it came out with a charter of demands including statehood for Nagaland and a separate entity for the Naga people in the Indian defence forces. Nagaland attained its statehood in 1963 and the Naga Regiment was formed seven years later. Nevertheless, a remarkable fact about its raising was that several ex-militants were given a fair chance to prove their newfound nationalism and made to join the Indian Armed Forces; many of them were directly appointed junior commissioned officers. But even before their training could be completed and the recruits were administered oath, insurgencies began in northeast India. Bypassing the training schedule, the Naga Regiment was ordered to move into the concentration areas. The Regiment was pushed into the war with barely any preparation.

The first battalion of the regiment (1 Naga) was raised at the Kumaon Regimental Centre, Ranikhet on 1 November 1970 under the command of Lt. Col. R.N. Mahajan, VSM. Being the only battalion, it was then designated as the Naga Regiment. The manpower to raise this battalion was provided by battalions of the Kumaon Regiment, Garhwal Rifles and 3 Gorkha Rifles. 69 Nagas were enrolled directly from rehabilitation camps of underground Nagas. However, the regiment's troops were to be 50% Nagas and 50% of an equal number of Kumaoni, Garhwali and Gorkhas. Since many Kumaon battalions had been associated with Nagaland, particularly in the years preceding the raising of the Naga Regiment, it was affiliated to the Kumaon Regiment for all regimental matters. The second battalion (2 Naga) was raised on 11 February 1985 at Haldwani.

The traditional Naga weapons viz the Dao, the Spear and the prestigious Mithun have been integrated into the Regimental Crest. The regiment's colours are gold, green and red - the gold signifies the rising sun, the green signifies the infantry and red is the colour of authority among Nagas. 1 Naga was presented with 'Colours' on 6 May 1978 at Dehradun by Shri Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, the President of India and 2 Naga was presented with 'Colours' on 10 May 1990 by General V.N. Sharma, PVSM, ADC, the Chief of Army Staff.