Dimapur, June 27 (MExN): The NSCM (IM) Ministry of Information & Publicity on Saturday issued a press release stating it does not extort but levies “legitimate taxes” as “the recognized and legitimate national organization of the Naga people.” Justifying its claim, it pointed to what was termed as peacetime “mushrooming of mercenary groups” created by the Indo-Naga ceasefire, as the root cause of the problem today that has smeared the ongoing Indo-Naga political process.
The release stated that the Indo-Naga talks passed into the hands of six Prime Ministers, before the August 3, 2015, Framework Agreement under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi “recognized the sovereign right of the Naga people on the basis of the unique history of the Nagas and stressed on peaceful co-existence of the two entities sharing sovereign power.”
As such, NSCN (IM) stated that it is the “inherent right of any sovereign people and nation to collect taxes from the people and commercial establishments,” and claimed that the “NSCN did not and does not commit extortion at any point of time but levies legitimate taxes from the people.”
“Taxes have been the sources of sustenance that has brought the Naga political movement this far. This was legitimately acknowledged by the earlier Interlocutors and Indian authorities and it was never an issue. What has complicated the situation as seen today is the madness of ‘extortions’ that are being carried out by some groups in the guise of freedom fighters,” it claimed.
Citing its membership in the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO), the NSCN (IM) further asserted that “no gang has found its place as member. Only legitimate political organizations of peoples and nations are admitted in the fold of UNPO.”
The NSCN (IM) meanwhile stated that “Any Indian Interlocutor who represents the Government of India needs to prove himself as a man who stands committed to solve the longest political conflict in Southeast Asia. But if he finds pleasure to handle the Naga issue as a ‘law and order’ problem he is not the right person to solve the long standing Indo-Naga problem.”
Such an Indian Interlocutor will rather complicate and prolong the process which is not the desire of both the Indians and the Nagas, it added.
The NSCN (IM) statement came in the backdrop of Nagaland Governor and Centre’s interlocutor for Indo-Naga talks, RN Ravi, writing a four-page letter to Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on June 16, stating that the “constitutionally established State Government is being challenged on day to day basis by the armed gangs who question the sovereignty and integrity of the nation while the instruments of law and order remain totally unresponsive.”
