The NSCN-K (Yung Aung) has issued a strong condemnation of what it described as a “violent attempt” by Coal India Limited (CIL) to forcefully evict Naga villagers and other tribal communities in Assam’s Tinsukia district, particularly in the Ledo area, despite widespread public opposition.
In a press statement issued by its Ministry of Information and Publicity (MIP), the outfit alleged that “widespread illegal coal extractions and coal dumping along the Assam-Arunachal border, specifically Tinsukia district in Assam and Changlang district in Arunachal which has been heavily protested by the Tangsa Nagas had landed on deaf ears.”
The NSCN/GPRN accused Coal India and its subsidiaries, along with other companies such as ONGC and GeoEnpro Petroleum Limited, of having “relentlessly looted” the coal and crude oil reserves in the area “for the last many decades,” resulting in “irreversible environment damage upon the sacred lands of the indigenous Nagas and other tribal communities.“The rampant and unethical mining is closely associated with land grabs and forced displacement of indigenous people who are desperately dependent on their land and forest,” the group stated, calling it a “deliberate violation of fundamental human rights laws and values.”
It further alleged that “the Assam and Arunachal Pradesh State governments and local authorities have been applying various tactics to subdue the voices of the ethnic communities,” accusing them of pursuing “a direct policy to threaten the identity, culture and traditional way of life of the indigenous people and to reduce them to refugee status in their own homeland.”
Declaring solidarity with the Tangsa community, the group asserted: “The Tangsa people are Nagas by flesh and blood and their security and well-being are not negotiable.” It went on to declare that “for too long the voices of our people have been silenced through authoritarian tactics and systematic repression.”
Warning of consequences, the NSCN/GPRN said, “We will protect the interest of our people and respond to their wishes with appropriate military action.”
Reaffirming its stance, the statement concluded: “NSCN/GPRN stand firm in our commitment to defend the Naga ancestral land, our natural resources and our national freedom.”