Kohima, September 21 (MExN): The NNC/FGN led by Zhopra Vero on Monday condemned the alleged obstruction of a Naga Students' Federation (NSF) delegation by Assam Rifles personnel at the Avakhung Check Gate in Meluri district on September 19, saying Indian military forces have “no regard for basic humanitarian values and rights.”
In a statement issued by Victor M Thuu Killo Kilonser, NNC/FGN, the organisation said the delegation was reportedly travelling to Myanmar for a cultural exchange and to meet fellow Naga students and communities across the India-Myanmar boundary.
The NNC/FGN said Naga communities across the “modern artificial border” between India and Myanmar have maintained relationships through kinship, customary institutions, trade, marriage, religious fellowship and social exchange long before the Avakhung Check Gate was set up. It questioned the moral and political rights of the Assam Rifles personnel to “question our traditional values, norms and practices by forcefully occupying our land.”
Alleging that such actions “tarnish the image of India as the world's largest democracy,” the organisation said the personnel had projected themselves and the Indian state as an “enemy of human rights and values” by militarising the Naga homeland and insulting Naga traditional practices.
The statement said the cumulative experience of AFSPA, draconian security laws, military checkpoints, permits, passes and other restrictions has deeply affected the everyday exercise of civilian rights and freedoms. It alleged that decades of “terrorizing our land through unlawful conduct” have produced deep hurt and distrust in the “soul of the Naga nation,” and accused the Indian armed forces of continuing to harass and dehumanise innocent people in the name of law and order.
The NNC/FGN said Nagas have lived, worked, travelled, interacted and maintained relationships across their homelands long before independent India, Myanmar or the Assam Rifles existed, and urged that Nagas be left alone to exercise their sovereign rights to preserve, nurture and cultivate their cultural and traditional values.
