What is not right, Nagas will not allow: NSCN-IM targets GoI

The NSCN-IM’s official news bulletin Nagalim Voice has published a sharply worded editorial criticizing the Government of India’s recent actions concerning the Free Movement Regime (FMR) and border fencing along the Indo-Myanmar border.

Under the headline ”What is not right, Nagas will not allow, what come may!” the editorial accused India of imposing “deplorable and barbarous acts” to suppress the rights of the Nagas. It drew historical parallels, recalling how the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) was introduced during the tenure of India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, to empower armed forces against the Naga resistance movement.

The editorial condemned what it described as India’s “flattering policy” aimed at dismantling Naga historical and political identity under the guise of national security. It stated that this approach had triggered mass peaceful protests and fuelled anger among the Naga people.

“The collective voice of the Nagas is to reclaim our cultural heritage that defines the Nagas as one people and one nation,” the bulletin declared, warning that the people’s fury “will not die till India listen.”

Calling the moment “defining” for the Nagas, the editorial urged the Naga people to stand firm in asserting their “inalienable rights” and to reject what it termed the “hegemony of the Indian government.”

The editorial follows widespread protests in several Naga-inhabited areas opposing the Union Government’s decision to scrap the Free Movement Regime and initiate border fencing, moves which the Nagas fear could divide Naga communities living across the Indo-Myanmar border.

MT