Forum conducts Shilloi Relief & Peace Mission for Nagas in Myanmar
Dimapur, November 11 (MExN): The Global Naga Forum (GNF) initiated and carried out the Shilloi Relief & Peace mission from November 6 to 8 for Nagas in Myanmar.
According to a press statement from the GNF on Thursday, the mission was carried out for the Nagas in Myanmar who are living in conditions of extreme deprivation, even of basic needs like food, medicines and warm clothes.
“Many lack proper housing, some are made to do forced labour by government agents, and they live under constant threat from security forces, including villages being attacked on suspicion of anti-government activity, forced lockdowns due to the pandemic.
It was in view of these conditions that GNF members from both sides of the border planned the relief mission,” the statement read.
Twenty-one volunteers travelling from both ends coordinated their efforts and met in Shilloi to transfer the donated goods to those with urgent needs, it added.
Mission team held up by AR personnel
However, the GNF recounted that during the relief mission, the group travelling to Shilloi from Nagaland were held up en-route for 45 minutes by the Assam Rifles personnel, late night at Washelo and were “needlessly questioned about personal details” while also having their phones checked.
They were reportedly asked to stand for photographs but they objected to it. With the intervention of Nagaland Home Minister Y Patton, the situation was brought under control, as per the GNF statement.
The Naga group from Myanmar was treated worse, the GNF added, highlighting that the three Nagas who came all the way from Layshi to collect relief materials from Shilloi were apprehended by AR, kept overnight and taken back to the border even without allowing them to carry any relief materials.
Asserting that the incident brings up the larger and more troubling question about violations of basic human rights of the Naga people even in their own homeland, the GNF appealed all the stakeholders to uphold one another’s human rights.
Adding that the GNF mission was sustained by Article 36 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIPs), to which both India and Myanmar are signatories, the GNF questioned as to why Nagas, now under India and Myanmar, should not continue to live as “a people without borders.”
“The Naga homeland is situated between India and Myanmar, two great civilizations of the world. And Nagas have the potential to become bridge builders and peacemakers between India and Myanmar. Instead, militarization and violations of Naga people’s human rights in both countries, for over seven decades, have bedevilled peace and wellbeing in the region. We fervently hope and call for peace and justice for all the stakeholders,” the GNF stated.
Meanwhile, the GNF acknowledged the generosity of the church communities, public and GNF members who donated items like blankets, warm clothes, shoes, rice, lentils, salt, face masks, sanitizers, over-the-counter medicines, other user-friendly daily utilities etc. It expressed gratitude to every every donor and well-wisher.
The GNF also thanked local and civil society leaders, the Pochury Mothers Association, Pochury Students’ Union leaders, VCC, DB, Chairman and the Headmaster of Avakhung for their hospitality and help in the relief mission.
