Lahe, July 22 (MExN): The Naga Students’ Organisation (NSO) has strongly condemned what it termed as “escalating aggression” by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) towards the Nagas.
According to the NSO, the latest and most alarming incident of continued “pattern of hostility and provocation” occurred on July 18 when KIA forces allegedly launched a “calculated and heavily armed operation” and captured16 Naga Army personnel along with their weapons at Chanra Gate, in the Naga ancestral region west of the Danai River, near Talu and Lungyone villages.
“This blatant act of hostility has shocked the entire Naga nation,” asserted a press communiqué issued by the Naga Students’ Organization (NSO), headquartered at Lahe Town in the Naga Self-Administered Zone (NSAZ), Myanmar.
The strongly worded communiqué, thus, demanded the immediate and unconditional release ‘captured’ personnel along with the return of all confiscated arms.
“Any further delay or harm inflicted will be viewed as a direct escalation of conflict,” the NSO stated, adding that if the current ‘aggressions’ continue, the other side would be held “fully responsible for any future unrest or breakdown of peace.”
Giving a backdrop to its assertion, the NSO said that the Naga and Kachin peoples have shared a deep bond, grounded in mutual respect, shared struggle, and common aspirations for freedom and dignity. “This relationship has long stood as a symbol of ethnic solidarity in the face of oppression,” it stated.
However, it contended that in recent years, particularly following the military coup in 2021, the bond has come under serious threat due to “repeated and unprovoked acts of aggression from the KIA.”
Accordingly, the NSO accused the KIA of systematically targeting Naga civilians, including youths, women, and minors, who travel to Kachin State for education, employment, or healthcare. It alleged incidents of harassment, illegal detention, abduction, forced conscription, disappearances from border villages, and reports of youths being used as human shields.
These “unprovoked acts of hostility” are betrayal of the long-standing ethnic solidarity between the Naga and Kachin peoples, it said.
Nevertheless , the NSO claimed that the Naga people have exercised restraint, avoided retaliation and have continuously “extended a hand of peace.”
One such instance, the NSO noted, was in June 2024 when the organisation initiated a peaceful dialogue with the KIA leadership. However, the delegation was reportedly blocked from proceeding further and denied access to the KIA headquarters on baseless grounds. While discussions did take place on 12th and 13th June with lower-ranking KIA officers, they yielded “no constructive resolution,” the organisation stated.
Still the delegation retuned in good faith believing the KIA might choose the path of peace but the aggression has only ‘intensified,’ the NSO mainianted, citing the July 18 incident.
Accordingly, it asserted that should hostilities persist, the Naga people would respond “not in weakness, but in righteous defense.”
However, the NSO expressed hope that the Kachin leadership will correct its course but conveyed that “peace will not come at the cost of our people’s blood or betrayal of our cause.”
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