DIMAPUR, OCTOBER 30 (MExN): The Naga Peoples’ Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR) today stated that the Naga people “are not a nation of liars.” “We do not allege our pain or sufferings. We experience it,” the NPMHR stated in a press note, in response to the recent Assam Rifles statement, whereby the latter had refuted allegations that the 28 AR had forcefully occupied the Mekokla Baptist Church under Wokha district on October 22 and 23.
“The perpetrators who are none other but as always, the Assam Rifles, call the victims and their community liars and claim that they ‘have immense respect for all religions and will never take any step or action to disrespect any religious place of worship.’ Is there any other higher level of arrogance that adds salt to fresh injury and insults human intelligence of the highest degree?” the NPMHR questioned.
It further stated that this incident “is only a grim reminder that the war against Naga people is taking place every day by any and all kinds of name.” “These kinds of human rights violations and psychological abuses rekindle horrible memories in India’s occupational war against the Nagas for nearly a century now, despite the occasional so-called ‘Ceasefires’ and ‘Peace Talks’, which only gives full freedom to the Indian Military to do anything and everything with full impunity under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act,” the NPMHR said.
It added that “ever since the Indian military set foot in Nagaland, the history of the Naga people has been that of sufferings and inhuman atrocities.” It reminded that the NPMHR has been struggling against these “never-ending violations, through democratically available means of protests.”
“We would like to inform our people that one of the legal recourse we took was to petition the Supreme Court of India against the violation of human rights in Naga areas that includes desecration of churches and educational institutions,” the NPMHR pointed out. It further cited the judgment in the NPMHR & Others vs Union of India on February 14, 1983, wherein the Supreme Court of India under Order No. Issue Rule nisi in W. P. No. 550/12 observed: “It is alleged by Mr. Venugopal who appears on behalf of the petitioners that Churches and educational institutions have been used and are being used by the army as camping grounds and for the purpose of interrogating and detaining people. The learned Attorney General on behalf of the Union of India refused this allegation and contends that the record before us will show that this allegation is not justified. It is impossible for us at this stage to examine whether the allegation made by the petitioners is well-founded, but we direct on the supposition that it is well-founded that the army authorities shall not use any church or educational institutions for the purpose of setting up any camp and for the purpose of interrogating and detaining people”.
With the recent incident in Wokha, the NPMHR said that the 28 Assam Rifles has “once again directly violated the Supreme Court of India’s directive.”
It meanwhile acknowledged the response of the Naga public through the various civil society organizations including the Church and students, “who have demonstrated against the evil actions of 28 Assam Rifles through various democratic processes.”
“The sceptre of obscurantism still looms large over our dignity to live as peace loving citizens. We must continue to inculcate and remain steadfast to the values of human rights, to protest and fight back when called upon to defend the brutal prosecution of our people,” it urged. The NPMHR further reiterated its appeal for the Government of India to “recall its forced military occupation of Naga areas.”
