Dimapur, March 7 (MExN): The NSCN (IM) has called for the immediate release of all Naga Political Prisoners of War (NPPoW), who have been detained by the Indian and Myanmar governments. The conflict between India, Nagalim, and Myanmar has been ongoing for more than seven decades, making it one of the oldest international disputes in modern history.
According to a press release issued by the NSCN (IM) Ministry of Information and Publicity on Tuesday, India and Myanmar have systematically framed the conflict as an internal issue, viewing the Nagas defending their own country as a security threat to their respective countries. The detention of numerous Nagas by the Indian and Myanmar governments has resulted in them being labelled as “insurgents,” “terrorists,” or arrested under “terror funding,” it said.
As an example, it cited the arrest of Alemla Jamir, a cabinet minister in the NSCN/GPRN, who was detained by India on December 17, 2019, at Domestic Airport (T-1) in New Delhi and later arrested in a “terror funding case” and remains in Indian custody.
In this scenario, the NSCN (IM) stated India's commitment to the November 18, 2002, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in Milan, Italy, “clearly stated and understood that the NSCN/GPRN is not a terrorist organization.” “If this is the case, why are members of the NSCN/GPRN or Nagas being held on terror funding charges?” it questioned.
Among others, it questioned why India has been in political negotiations with the NSCN/GPRN for more than two decades, that too “at the highest political levels in India and other countries,” if the NSCN/GPRN is a terrorist organization.
They also questioned why India signed the Framework Agreement on August 3, 2015, which recognized the issue as an Indo-Naga “political conflict” and was signed as two entities.
Further, the NSCN (IM) urged the international community to uphold and defend international fairness and justice, to promote an equal and uniform application of international law, and to reject double standards. It opposed the occupation of Nagalim and appealed to the international community to immediately call India and Myanmar's illegal occupation into question.
“The international community should remain committed to the right approach of promoting peace talks, assisting India, Nagalim, and Myanmar in the conflict, and creating conditions and platforms for the three entities to resume negotiations or call for an immediate withdrawal of occupying forces from Nagalim,” the release stated, while calling for the immediate release of all NPPoWs.
