Dimapur, March 26 (MExN): Naga International Support Center (NISC), a human rights organization based in Amsterdam, today asserted that India and Myanmar should acknowledge that Nagas have the right to self determination, that they have never been conquered and act on the same. Then only real peace and harmony will be achieved between the peoples of India, Myanmar and Nagaland, the Center said in a press release issued to the media in Nagaland, while stressing that peace is the key.
But even when peace has been achieved, both nations should also serve the Nagas justice, the justice they deserve, it said. Real healing, according to NISC, can begin when Indian and Myanmar’s authorities ask to be forgiven and ask for redemption plus offer extensive compensation for the losses Nagas had to suffer. “This can be in the form of financial cooperation in developing Nagaland: all of Nagaland so Nagaland Myanmar Nagaland India and parts of the states of Manipur, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh not just Nagaland State.” There should be funding available to compensate individual Nagas who have been hard hit by the Indian Armed Forces and there should be institutes specializing in war trauma so affected people can be treated well. Restoration of mental health, goods, farms, buildings, and everything purposely destroyed should be a priority for the Governments of India and Myanmar, it added. A redemption plan to do justice to the Naga Peoples has to be worked out and published, NISC said.
In the release, NISC highlighted that the 60-year-old war between India/Myanmar and the Naga Peoples has left psychological scars beyond imagination. During the course of the 60 years, several generations have grown up with constantly soldiers around them. Due to laws of impunity like the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) since 1957, the soldiers are not accountable for what they inflict on the people, it said. “Consequently arbitrary arrests, threats, torture in many forms, maiming and even killing are the order of the day rather than exceptions. Though the ceasefire between India and Nagaland brought some solace, the basics of this physical and psychological warfare remained firmly in place; they are still in use by the Armed Forces of India as well as the paramilitary force the Assam Rifles.”
Stating that for the Nagas, in defending their right to self-determination, the long war of invasion has caused deep wounds both physically and psychologically, NISC pointed out that around 300,000 deaths and many more injured victims were counted.
In such a situation, experiencing violence, abuse, harassment as common in life changes the psyche because fear is normal. “One can lose one’s mind or one develops hatred against the perpetrators, a sense to pay back but it can also develop a practical sense of feeling the need to cooperate and in doing so getting rewarded. Consequently resistance and cronyism are created and generations have been pulled towards these extremes.” This then in turn gave cause and momentum to the process which led to a great divide in the Naga society, the release pointed out. “This great divide initiated differences between tribes also and was fortified by creation of a divide and rule plan with specific purpose; the Government of India distributed money and guns,” it added. This changed the perspective of many a Naga as this divide and rule plan deflected attention on the real situation namely living in an occupied nation. Money and guns also led to another fear when the Naga Peoples were confronted with fratricide, it was stated.
Meanwhile, NISC said that even as the triggers of fear have ceased to exist, living in fear has a long-term impact. For the Nagas to eradicate the realistic fear, it suggested the Nagas first have to do their utmost to secure peace amongst themselves and when united again to come to terms with the Government of India.
Dwelling on the long term psychological damage to six generations of Nagas, NISC said there are still approximately 200,000 soldiers in Indian Nagaland plus an unknown number, but quite a few in Nagaland Myanmar. The atrocities continue to be committed, be it to a lesser extent, and it is no surprise that lawlessness remains an everyday fact, it stated. “What you direly want is peace. You yearn for it. You want to be sure nobody will enter your house without a warrant, you don’t want to be frisked, arrested, beaten up or even tortured. You don’t want to be threatened by any of the other factions who walk around in your village, gun in hand. You want to live your life in freedom, freedom you heard about, read about but a freedom you have never experienced.”
