Tahamzam (Senapati), May 23 (MExN): The All Naga Students’ Association, Manipur (ANSAM) has stated today that it is “not too late” for the Government of India (GoI) to “take a more responsible approach” in the continued persecution of Naga human rights activists Luingam Luithui and his wife, Peingamla Luithui.
Luingam’s passport was “impounded” by the Indian government in 1995 and Peingamla was denied a duplicate passport after hers was stolen in 1994. This forced them into “virtual exile” ever since.
“It is time that the GOI demonstrate its duty towards individuals it is responsible for and fully restore their citizenship and their right to freedom of movement,” asserted the ANSAM in a press release today from its President, Seth Shatsang and General Secretary, Alexander Hutten.
The statement has come in the light of an upcoming hearing regarding the case at the Delhi High Court on May 25. A petition was filed in 2014 to restore their citizenship rights.
The ANSAM recalled that Luingam Luithui has been one of the “most inspiring figures of our time” in mobilising organised struggles against militarisation when state repression was “brutal and heavy.” This was at a time when Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in India were “still largely ignorant” of state repression in independent India.
It was only the Emergency period in India that revealed these experiences for the first time. Luingam, as a student activist, “actively worked side by side” with civil rights activists from mainland India for the rights of ordinary citizens during this period, noted the ANSAM.
“For the first time, it also drew the attention of the mainland CSOs to the gross violation of human rights taking place in Naga areas.”
Eventually, the ground was prepared and the Naga Peoples Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR) was formed in 1978 which anchored the civil rights movement in the Naga areas. This was the precursor to several “path-breaking initiatives” concerning the social and political movement of the Nagas in which Luingam was “instrumental.”
“He and his colleagues took several notable cases of military excesses to the Court of India for the first time making the ‘sovereign’ act of the Indian army judiciable,” the Association observed.
Noting that his “commitment to human rights and justice extended beyond his own people,” the ANSAM described how Luingam played a “crucial role” in helping Late Laldenga, the leader of the Mizo National Front, and his family after he was arrested and detained on July 6 while in Delhi for peace talks with the GoI in 1979, including arranging his lawyer Swaraj Kaushal.
Starting civil society initiatives for the Naga cause in India led to “exploring the possibility of political solutions to the Indo-Naga issue instead of viewing the conflict as simply a ‘law and order’ problem.” This was a critical turning point in the issue for both India and the Naga people.
“Before he was exiled by the Indian state, he took the initiative of bringing into public discussions the issue of self-determination as basic human rights of all peoples and societies for a dignified existence,” explained the ANSAM.
Luingam also played a crucial role in the formation of several mass-based platforms at the local, regional and international levels, including the International Alliance of the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples of the Tropical Forests and Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP).
Luingam Luithui, the ANSAM maintained, “is truly a person deeply committed to Universal Human Rights and Peace and Justice for all.”
