Four organisations- Naga Hoho (NH), Naga Mothers’ Association (NMA), Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) and Naga People’s Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR), have urged the international community to intervene in the alleged “violations of human rights in our Naga country, recognize our legitimate political, social, economic and religious rights as enshrined in the United Nations’ Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.”
In a joint statement, the four organizations demanded that the Government of India must stop its militarisation and military operations.
They stressed that the Indo-Naga political conflict could not be solved militarily and insisted that it must be solved politically, as admitted by three Indian Army generals and others.
They demanded that the Central government must honour its words in the agreement and the Indo-Naga political impasse be resolved accordingly. On their part, they claimed that Nagas had agreed and committed to an “enduring inclusive new relationship of peaceful co-existence of the two entities” – Nagas and Indians.
According to them, the Naga people are an independent indigenous nation in assertion to which a peaceful and prior informed plebiscite was conducted in 1951 that resulted in 99.9% in support of independence as declared on August 14, 1947.
The three organisations alleged that the Indian armed forces had been occupying their land ever since the military aggression in 1954. They said their nation was militarised and subjected to political and social suppression and most dehumanizing oppression.
Left with no option but to defend their political, social, religious and economic rights, they mentioned that the people had resorted to confront and resist the occupational military forces of India and Burma. This war had ever since continued in the midst of two ceasefires.
They said the people were subjected to live in constant fear and trauma, which was a never ending-nightmare.
“Our homes and granaries are vandalised and burned. The armed forces occupy our crop fields, schools, hospitals and make them their camps. Our churches are desecrated and have been made concentration camps. Our women and daughters are molested and raped. Our wives and daughters are subjected to give birth in public,” the statement claimed.
NH, NMA, NSF and NPMHR mentioned that former United Nations secretary general Boutros Ghali had officially acknowledged these violence, destruction, pain and untold sufferings of the Nagas by observing that “there is human rights situation in Nagaland”.
They claimed Nagas were peace-loving and most humane people with great respect for peaceful co-existence and that they courageously defended their dignity as they respected and upheld the dignity of all people exhibited by their great hospitality.
They pointed out that a political dialogue following the ceasefire agreement in 1997 was in place and a Framework Agreement was signed by the representatives of the Government of India and Naga people in 1997 as the basis to work out the political agreement to resolve the armed confrontation. Although a decade shy of two years had nearly passed, they lamented that political resoluteness and honourable approach and guarantee on the part of the Government of India remained in doubt.