Alleges over 80 Nagas killed fighting alongside Kachin rebels; ‘detained and forcibly recruited’
Dimapur, March 17 (MExN): The Federal Government of Nagaland (FGN) in a letter addressed to Senior General Min AungHlaingTatmadaw (Military Junta) &Chairman, state Administration Council (SAC),Naypidaw, Myanmar and DuwaLashi Lam, President,National Unity Government of Myanmar, has urged that Naga territory and citizens be kept out of Myanmar’s ongoing civil conflict.
The letter issued by AkhoMeru, Alee (Foreign) Ministry, FGN asserted that Nagaland is a “sovereign independent nation and being illegally occupied by India in the west and Myanmar in the east.” The FGN claimed to have declared independence on August 14, 1947 and ratified it in the NationalPlebiscite of May 16, 1951and established its government on March 22, 1956.
While stating that it does not wish to interfere in Myanmar's internal affairs, the FGN letter cautioned that the spillover of the conflict is directly impacting Naga-inhabited areas on the Myanmar side of the border.
The FGN highlighted that the Eastern regions of Nagaland, which are presently under Myanmarese occupation, remained outside the domain of colonial influence and continued to be independent.
However, these areas were taken over by erstwhile Burma inconnivance with India who occupied the western regions of Nagaland.
“TheNagas therefore, fought a defensive war against both,” it stated adding, “the Nagas never resorted to, nor were part of any initiative (not even the famed Panglong Agreement of 1947) to be implicated as part of any other nation other than Nagaland.”
As such, the FGN urged the Tatmadaw government, the NUG, and ethnic groups such as the Kachins and Shans to refrain from influencing or forcibly involving the Nagas in a conflict.
FGN claimed, “Reports have been received that over 80 Nagas have died while fighting alongside the Kachins against the Tatmadaw forces. Meanwhile, the Tatmadaw Government is forcibly recruiting Nagas to fight the NUG forces.”
It further claimed that Naga civilians, caught between the warring factions, are suffering from a lack of essential commodities and healthcare. They are therefore, compelled to venture out into neighbouring territories to facilitate their urgent needs but are “detained and forcibly recruited by both sides.”
The FGN stated that Nagas are neither Burmans nor an ethnic group of Myanmar, but a distinct nation living in their own country called Nagaland. It urged both the Myanmar military and ethnic groups like the Kachins and Shans to “refrain from influencing or forcibly engaging Nagas in a conflict which is none of their concern” and to keep the peace in Naga territory.
“The territory of Nagaland is not for sale nor is it there to be taken as a battlefield or spoils of war for warring groups,” it asserted.
Meanwhile, to the “Naga groups or factions involving themselves in Myanmar's imbroglio,” the FGN declared that these factions involving themselves in the conflict “do not carry the mandate of the people.” It accused them of acting for “selfish personal gain” and warned them to “immediately refrain from such activities lest to people rise to the occasion and there is no longer any hope for their existence as Nagas.”
It reminded the NUG and Tatmadaw Governments that “such groups are at your service for their own personal gain and the Naga citizens should not be held accountable nor our territories be made part of any outcome of their involvement in the internal conflict of Myanmar.”
“As far as these Naga groups forcibly recruiting our own citizens are concerned, it is an internal matter which will be taken care of by our own people and national government,” the FGN stated.
The FGN stated it is apprising the Government of India of the same situation. It concluded with the hope that “understanding and peace prevail lest another deluge of war occurs” and appealed that the “voice and dignity of the Naga people be respected and safeguarded.”
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