KOHIMA, SEPTEMBER 25 (MExN): The NSCN-K (Angmai-Mulatonu) on Thursday reacted strongly to the Government of India’s decision to declare it an unlawful organisation and ban it for five years, saying the move amounted to a “declaration of war” against the Naga people.
In a statement issued by its MIP, the NSCN-K led by Maj. Gen (Retd) Ang Mai, Nyeiton Konyak and Kughalu Mulatonu said it “appreciated the validation of Naga sovereignty by the Indian Home Ministry as the soul of Naga people” even as it rejected India’s authority over Nagas.
“The Nagas were never part of India or British India, are not part of India and will never be. Sovereignty is our birthright, inheritance from God and our fathers,” it said.
The group alleged that India had “forcefully and illegally occupied” Naga areas and imposed “repressive and anti-human laws” such as the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the National Security Act.
“Since the birth of the NSCN in 1980, it has never transgressed, occupied or violated an inch of Indian soil to launch a war. It is the Indian army and the government of India that has forcefully and illegally occupied and killed the Nagas in the name of law and order while the real intent is Indianisation,” the statement said.
Asserting that the group has no plans to fight Indian forces outside Naga areas, the NSCN-K added, “The declaration of NSCN-K as an unlawful organisation and banning it for five years is a declaration of war... Until and unless the Government of India withdraws its occupational armed forces from Nagaland, the Nagas will not remain as mute spectators.”
The statement further said that allegations of the group being aided by “anti-India forces” or possessing heavy weapons were “cheap propaganda” and insisted that the NSCN-K only used light arms for self-defence.
Calling India the “sole aggressor, occupier and criminal in Naga country,” the group demanded that the Centre revoke the ban and “sit and talk with the NSCN-K to end the political deadlock.”
