Dimapur, September 11 (MExN): The NSCN (IM) today stated that the ongoing Indo-Naga political talks can be concluded only through “respecting and honouring” the letter and spirit of the August 3, 2015, Framework Agreement (FA).
Political negotiation is a means and not an end, and the “earnest negotiations” between the Government of India (GoI) and NSCN (IM) led to the signing of the FA, whereby the GoI has “duly recognised the unique history and sovereignty of Nagalim,” it said.
“Accordingly, the Naga national flag and constitution, being constituents of sovereignty, are duly recognised in the letter and spirit of the FA,” the NSCN (IM) added in a press statement issued on the eve of a joint consultative meeting on the Naga political issue convened by the Nagaland Government on September 12. The process of delaying the conclusion of the Indo-Naga political talks may do more harm than good to both negotiating parties, it added.
Giving a background, the NSCN (IM) noted that the right to be free or self-determination, which is a gift of God, is a universal right enshrined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).
“It is freedom that gives meaning to life. Nagas, being mindful and protective of what is ours, have consciously existed on their own land since ages with freedom,” it added, further reiterating that Nagalim “was and is never a part of the Union of India, Myanmar, or any other powers either by consent or conquest.”
It further claimed that since the time of colonial power invasion, “Nagas have been continually resisting every occupation force” and that the “declaration of Nagalim Independence on August 14, 1947, and Nagalim Plebiscite on May 16, 1951, are a conscious decision of total refusal and denial to be under any foreign occupation.”
It further recalled that Nagas did not start the violent confrontation that spanned more than seven decades, but the “path of military might” was directed against Nagalim for simply refusing to be a part of the Union of India or Myanmar.
The continual deployment of countless occupation military forces armed with the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) across the length and breadth of Nagalim is highly uncalled for despite the ceasefire still in place since August 1, 1997, the NSCN (IM) asserted.
Meanwhile, it noted that Nagalim “can be liberated but only through people’s revolution,” and the formidable force that can “defend and free Nagalim is a revolutionary patriot.”
To this end, the NSCN (IM) deemed it a fallacy to think that “Nagalim’s freedom will fall from heaven or that occupation forces will withdraw on their own accord.”
Nevertheless, it asserted that Nagas are for “solution and peace but not in capitulation” and declared that they would never “lay down our arms, our freedom, and our Nagalim,” and anyone deviating from this national line is a “treacherous traitor.”
The NSCN (IM) also contended that the Nagalim issue is neither an internal matter nor a law and order problem of India or Myanmar.
“Any attempt at a solution in the name of peace and development within the constitution of India or Myanmar is an outright ‘sell-out’; and only a traitor would betray the national cause,” it asserted.
Thus, the NSCN (IM) implied that the August 3, 2015, FA was signed taking all this into consideration and also lauded the political statesmanship of late Chairman Isak Chishi Swu and General Secretary Th Muivah.
