Kohima: As delegates from 29 countries arrive in Nagaland for the G20 business meet to be held in Kohima on April 5, the Naga Students’ Federation (NSF), Naga Mothers Association, Naga Hoho (NH), and Naga Peoples Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR) jointly sought international intervention on the long pending Naga political issue.
On Tuesday, the NSF and the Diphupar Naga Students’ Union (DNSU) held a symbolic demonstration by placing banners that read “Nagas had no conflict with any other nations till Indian military invaded and occupied our country”, “Dear G20 delegates, Naga people welcomes you to Nagaland”, and so on.
Banners were placed at two strategic locations-one at Dimapur airport junction and the other at Patkai bridge along NH-2 connecting Dimapur and Kohima to express the “aspiration” of the Naga people.
Through a joint statement, the NSF, NMA, NH, and NPMHR implored the international community to “humanly intervene in the violations of human rights” in the “Naga country”, urging them to recognise the “legitimate political, social, economic and religious rights” enshrined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.
They said that the Naga People are an “independent indigenous nation” in assertion to which a peaceful and prior informed Plebiscite was conducted in 1951 that resulted in 99.9% in support of the independent status as declared on August 14, 1947.
“The Indian armed forces have been occupying our land ever since its military aggression in 1954. Our Nation is militarised and subjected to political and social suppression and most dehumanizing oppression. Left with no option but to defend our political, social, religious and economic rights, we have resorted to confront and resist the occupational military forces of India and Burma. This war has ever since continued in the midst of two ceasefires,” they said.
Saying that Nagas are subjected to live in constant fear and trauma, a never ending-nightmare, they narrated how homes and granaries were vandalized and burned by armed forces that occupied the crop fields, schools, and hospitals and make them their camps.
“Our Churches are desecrated and have been made concentration camps. Our women and daughters are molested and raped. Our wives and daughters are subjected to give birth in public,” they said.
Quoting former UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros Ghali, who acknowledged the violence, destruction, pain and untold sufferings of the Nagas that “there is human rights situation in Nagaland”, they said that Nagas are peace-loving and most humane people with great respect for peaceful co-existence.
Following the Cease Fire Agreement in 1997, they signed the 2015 Framework Agreement to work out the political agreement to resolve the armed confrontation. “Although a decade shy of two years is nearly passed, the political resoluteness and honourable approach and guarantee on the part of the Government of India remains a dangerous doubt,” they said.
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They then said that the Government of India must stop its militarization and military operations as the political conflict cannot be solved militarily, but politically. “The Government of India must honour its word in the Agreement and the Indo-Naga political impasse must be resolved accordingly. On our part, Nagas have agreed and committed to an “enduring inclusive new relationship of peaceful co-existence of the two entities” – between Nagas and Indians,” they added.
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