DIMAPUR, OCTOBER 1 (MExN): Taking strong exception against the Supreme Court dismissal of criminal charges against the Indian army officials in the killing of Naga civilians in Mon district, a Joint Council meeting of NSCN (IM) held on October 1 termed it as a blatant violation of human rights and against the spirit of right to life and liberty.
A release from the Ministry of Information and Publicity (MIP) remarked, “Certainly, the Supreme Court of India found itself helpless to go against the notorious Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) that continues to victimize the Nagas, even after the 1997 ceasefire to process the Indo-Naga political solution. Ironically, Nagas abhors AFSPA because it is incompatible to the spirit of the Government of India seeking Naga political solution. Nagas would not surrender tamely but fight for justice.”
The Joint Council also passed a resolution against the controversial Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN), stating that it undermines the very essence of indigenous identity in the context of the God-given Naga nation.
The council claimed that RIIN introduces divisive elements, instigated by forces against the Naga nation. "Nagas, as indigenous peoples, have no class and no boundary. Nagas are one, and Nagas are indigenous wherever they are in their God-given land, Nagalim. Therefore, the present form of RIIN classification of indigenous based on artificial state boundaries is not acceptable to the Naga people. Come what may, we shall resist," the resolution asserted.
Another resolution adopted during the meeting called for resistance against border fencing along the Indo-Myanmar international border and the scrapping of the Free Movement Regime (FMR). The council argued that these actions violate the spirit of ongoing Indo-Naga political talks aimed at finding a peaceful solution to the Naga political issue.
The NSCN (IM) expressed its opposition to the scrapping of FMR, asserting, “We shall not tolerate border fencing, and we shall do whatever is deemed fit to stop such aggression against the existence of Naga brotherhood as a nation.”
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