The NSCN/GPRN (YA Group) and the ULFA(I) have jointly called for a total boycott of the upcoming Independence Day celebrations on August 15, urging people across Nagaland, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur to remain indoors.
In a joint declaration issued on August 10 through the Ministry of Information and Publicity of the NSCN-K (YA) Group, the two organisations described Independence Day celebrations in the region as a form of what they called “colonialism, subjugation and systematic suppression” of human rights.
The organisations said they opposed the celebration of Indian Independence Day in what they referred to as “Wesean soil”, asserting that the people of Western South East Asia have a distinct history, identity, culture and connection to their ancestral land. They said the region’s current domination by India does not make its people Indian.
The statement also described Independence Day celebrations as an instrument of “psychological subjugation” and alleged that they were being used to normalise what the organisations termed India’s domination of the region.
The NSCN and ULFA(I) said they remained committed to what they described as a struggle to restore their “lost freedom”.
“We are not terrorists but revolutionaries. We do not seek destruction but liberation for our people. We will continue our genuine struggle to restore our lost freedom at all cost,” the organisations said.
Calling for a boycott on August 15, the groups urged “freedom loving Wesean people” to remain indoors as a “powerful and dignified show of solidarity”.
The declaration said the boycott call would be effective in the “so-called states” of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland.
The statement concluded with the slogans “Long Live Our United Struggle” and “Long Live Western South East Asia Kuknalim.”
