Dimapur, June 30 (MExN): The NSCN (IM) has called for “proper introspection” on the recent statement of Nagaland Home Minister Imkong L. Imchen, “terming the taxation by the Naga national workers as extortion”. A press note issued by the MIP pointed out that on the “much talk about” “extortion prevalent in Nagalim” and the recent statement of the Nagaland Home Minister, there was a need for “proper introspection on the issue to clear any misunderstanding by the general public”.
The NSCN (IM) stated that “without taxation no government could survive or run its administration” and that it was “mandatory and binding on the part of every citizen to pay tax to their government”. The MIP clarified that taxes are “not collected through coercion or threat” and that the “involvement of threat perception is not taxation but tantamount to extortion, which is carried out by the anti-people or law breaker”.
The MIP also stated that like any other governments, the “Government of the People’s Republic of Nagalim (GPRN) has been collecting taxes from various business communities and citizens to run its administration and judiciously utilize it to meet expenditures involved in the struggle against the occupation of external forces on its territory”. It went on to state that the “NSCN/GPRN never collected taxes through threat or coercion” and that “it is the willingness on the part of people to contribute his or her share to the government which had brought the national struggle movement thus far”. “The NSCN/GPRN is the mandated government of the Naga people to liberate from the Indian and Myanmar domination in every aspect of life”.
The MIP note pointed out that to term the “NSCN/GPRN taxation as extortion” was “tantamount to rejection of the very existence of Naga nation and denial of its rights as an entity among the nations”. As such, it stated that it was unfortunate on the part of Nagaland Home Minister Imkong L. Imchen “trying to drag the Naga nationalist as anti-social elements which is nothing but denial of his own self as a Naga”. The NSCN (IM) stated that “Mr. Imchen may disown his statement and clarify his stand on the protracted Naga movement”. “He may also point out clearly who the underground factions are carrying out extortion,” it stated.
.JPG)
