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11/14/2004: "Major news agencies not inclined to correct historical background information."

Naga International Support Center, NISCwww.nagalim.nl
A human rights organization


Press Release
Amsterdam, November 15 2004

Major news agencies not inclined to correct historical background information.

More than two weeks ago, the Naga international Support Center wrote the following letter to AFP and Reuters news agencies because these leading agencies carried a report containing incorrect historical information concerning the Indo-Naga conflict. NISC asked each agency to investigate and correct the erroneous information as outlined in the letter below.

NISC takes this matter seriously. Providing background information on a news event is important and should be done impartially. Unfortunately neither agency reacted.

NISC deplores the arrogance of news agencies unwilling to investigate in order to acknowledge and correct misreported information and warns all those who obtain news through subscriptions to AFP Delhi and Reuters that those agencies are not infallible.


Dear editors of AFP Delhi.

From the report dated October 22, 2004, we noticed you are familiar with the tension in the North East of India with a special focus on the 50 year old conflict between the government of India and the Naga peoples in the region. We also noticed a few points that we would like to comment on, for we think they are either outright wrong or could give a wrong impression of this longstanding conflict. These are three points we feel you should take into account and correct
1 - NEW DELHI, India (AFP) - Separatist guerrilla leaders from India's northeastern state of Nagaland agreed at peace talks in Thailand to travel to India for future negotiations with the government, a report said.
The phrase “Separatist guerrilla leaders” is historically and politically incorrect. The Nagas find that description insulting. They are not separatists so should not be labelled as that! They have never been part of India. It is doubtful to say the least if the British handed them over. Besides that, a large part of the Naga Hills was referred to as “unadministered areas” by the British. The Nagas there were called Free Nagas. The Nagas, through NNC, declared independence a day before India. They are guerrillas fighting a war against invaders.
They can only be called separatist or secessionists if they were part of the union of India or the federation of India to begin with The Nagas never joined the Indian Union. The talks are between two nations.
2 - More than 25,000 people have been killed in the Nagaland rebellion -- the country's longest-running separatist insurgency -- since it was launched at India's independence from Britain in 1947.
The Indian government has not given that figure of Naga people killed for publication. The Nagas say 200.000 to 300,000 people have been killed and this does not include Indian soldiers. Nobody knows the correct figure for no one can check thoroughly and reliably what happened in Nagaland in the last 50 years.
3 - The NSCN wants the creation of a "Greater Nagaland" by carving slices off the neighbouring states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Manipur -- all of which have sizeable Naga populations.
The talks are between two governments. The NSCN is recognized as the negotiator for the Naga People and has a government in exile which levies taxes. The neighbouring states are not involved in the talks. There are no neighbouring states to talk about as large chunks of the Naga homeland were carved out to form these states. The Nagas want their homeland restored, so they want the separated parts, the artificial boundaries, to be removed so they can be reunified. Consequently there is no greater or smaller Nagalan
Below you see a press report based on what actually was agreed upon and talked about regarding a press release by both parties. It is not interpreted nor has it been beefed up with background information that is not accurate. There is nothing wrong of course with providing background for what happened, if only to make the talks more comprehensible.
You will also find below a letter NISC once wrote to press agencies such as you represent, namely the BBC, CNN and Reuters.
NISC recommends strongly that you write and publish a retraction of that newscast you distributed and NISC would like to receive a copy of that, please. Since we understand that you will need some time to discuss this, we will wait a period of two weeks for your retraction to be published. If for some reason you do not think you should react or discuss this matter, NISC feels that you leave us no choice but to publish this letter in a press release. Rest assured that we would not like to do that, but will readily do so if you do not react.
Yours sincerely, Drs. F.A.M. Welman
Secretary Naga International Support Centre
IM accepts PM’s missive to visit India for talks
Jaishree Balasubramanian
Bangkok, Oct 22 : In a positive development in the Naga peace process, exiled NSCN (IM) leaders to- day accepted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s in- vitation to visit India for further talks. The issue was discussed during the talks the government’s interlocutor K Padmanabaiah had with T Muviah and other leaders of the Naga outfit here. "The outcome of today’s talks between the Indian Government side and the NSCN (IM) was very good. The talks went off very well and we have accepted the Prime Minister’s invitation to visit India," a member of the Naga delegation told PTI. The member, who did not want to be identified, said the dates for the visit had not been decided though it was likely to be during mid November or December. A second round of formal talks will be held tomor- row before the two sides issue a joint statement, he said. He said no demands had been made by the Nagas today. "We would not have gone to India without an official invitation from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. But with the invitation now, we will go," he added. PTI
Dear editors of the BBC, Reuters and CNN
As authoritative media representatives that you are we would like to point out the following to you which would do justice to the peoples in longstanding conflict with India, a conflict that has been kept in obscurity for some 53 years.
Because only since the last few years some international attention has been given to it we fully understand that you would not know all factors determining the conflict. With respect to this and from what you are sharing with the rest of the world through your coverage we dare to inform you from the inside of it, from the inside looking out rather than from the outside looking in. We think this might make a difference in your reports and consequently would free them from prejudices and therefore make them more objective or intersubjective, perhaps even better.
Through being world leaders of the media you are not only popular and consequently can avail of resources, you have also great influence both on shaping the mind of the public at large as well as on decision makers. And because you as world leaders in gathering and distributing information you know very well that along with the glory the position carries a great responsibility too. Would it not be good to put these resources to use in fields your organisation knows relatively little about? Say, by sending teams to the North East, including the Naga territories that the NSCN talks about in the proceedings of the cease-fire. Following this, the extent of what we ask of is nothing less what you stand for, to safeguard the distribution of fair and balanced information.
You might find this part difficult to swallow but be rest assured we do not mean to dictate you, though you must understand that for the last 47 years hardly any journalist has been able to enter the areas officially. Large parts of the North East have been out of bound for the media. How’s that for unbiased acquisition of information?
Now, anticipating your capacity to be patient, here is what we would like to share with you so you could set the record straight. Following this we will provide you with suggestions how you could do this.
1 – Separatist minority
To be a separatist body it is implied that it is part of a whole body. In the case of the Nagas this is precisely what is disputed. It is factual that only a fraction of the Naga inhabited areas were colonised by the British, the non-colonised areas were called non-administered areas. Also, the Nagas fought many battles during the days of British colonisation; there was never any treaty between the coloniser and any Naga tribe. As early as 1929 The Nagas made it known to the British through the Simon Commission that they did not want to be part of any other state, be it India, Pakistan or Burma. In 1947 M. Gandhi told a Naga delegation that the Nagas could determine their own future. In the Nine Point Agreement between the transitory government of India and the Nagas it was agreed that for ten years within India but with their own government the Nagas could rule themselves and after 10 years the Nagas should determine what they would like to do, going with India or going on their own. India went back on its words and invaded the Naga territories. Remember, Nagaland state was created by India only in 1963.
Conclusion: to call Nagas separatists is factually wrong. It hurts the Naga soul for they had never been Indians and never considered themselves to be Indians nor did they ever want to be Indians if only for their humiliating caste-system that determines Nagas to become unclean untouchables. 99.9% of all Nagas confirmed that in 1951, in a plebiscite, that India neither wanted to hold, so the Nagas did it themselves, nor did it accept the result. So, please don’t call Nagas separatists, call them freedom fighters for they feel they resist invaders. To call the Nagas a minority is acknowledging that they are of part India. So, you think from India’s position. Now, we are not saying that you should reverse your stand; we are saying that you should do justice to both parties, not just one.
2 – Rebels, rebellion´ Rebellion is organised armed resistance to an established government´, says the Oxford dictionary. More importantly is the connotative or popular meaning of the word. Rebellion and therefore the word rebel carries the understood meaning that people rise against a just state, a minority against a majority. In relation to Nagaland this is not so. The Naga territories were invaded, the Nagas never fought against India outside their own territory. They struggle so that the occupational forces will leave their territories. This, in fact, is also part and parcel of the peace talks. The Nagas want the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, which gives the Indian forces unaccountable powers of rape, torture and murder, to be removed. In relation to this Act Nagas are not rebels but defenders of their cultural and social integrity.
3 – Former head-hunters
This is the trickiest one. First of all head hunting as a term has been used by the colonial powers. It was invented by colonialists to denounce tribal peoples. And, through its implicit appeal (connotation) on understanding these tribes, rather than peoples, as barbarians, they were thus described them as lower kind. Similar to people living in caves that bash each others heads with clubs, head hunters are seen as people of a lower kind. Although only partially true, may be, you don’t call your people Dutch former slave drivers or slave dealers. Is it okay to describe Americans as former slave drivers or, the Dutch as former slave traders, or the Germans as former Jew exterminators, etc. How would you feel if CNN becomes popularly nicknamed as former slave drivers, now trying to dictate to the world in journalism?
Also. considering the term head-hunting to be factual, if only from the European perspective, seems to be ridiculous because if people were really out to be hunting heads, they would be already extinct, for having exterminated both others and the last others themselves.
Okay, then what is this headhunting in relation to the Nagas to you, that you need to mention it at all?
We suggest the following
1 – Retract you implicit stand by publishing your corrections
2 – offer air time and/or space to the Naga movement for self determination, according to the plebiscite of the fifties this means 99.9% of the people, be it ordinary people or leaders of the Naga Nation
3 – send teams there, speak to people, speak to the freedom fighters, speak to the Nagaland state government, speak to Indians both commoners and leaders
4 – Speak to anthropologists both from within the North East and from the West
5 – Speak to Great Britain, the former coloniser
6 - In relation to the Naga declaration for independence (1947) speak to the UN
7 - Also perhaps it would be a good idea to do a feature on the continuing Indian military presence in the North East. Many reports, among others, conducted by the Naga peoples Movement for Human Rights have registered rape, indiscriminate arrest and torture arrest without warrant, jailed without trial, and extra-judicial killing, open shelling of towns and villages by the Indian military operating under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act.

Considering the importance of the matter we think two weeks for you to react would be a reasonable time. Otherwise you will leave us no option but to publish what we have written to you.

Yours sincerely,

Luingam Luithui, founder Naga Peoples Movement for Human Rights
Frans Welman, secretary Naga International Support Centre (NISC)
Kortenaeerplein 2 1057 NE Amsterdam
tel: 31 20 6389400 email nisc@nagalim.nl and f.welman@chello.nl website www.nagalim.nl

Naga leaders accept invitation for talks in India: report
NEW DELHI, India (AFP) - Separatist guerrilla leaders from India's northeastern state of Nagaland agreed at peace talks in Thailand to travel to India for future negotiations with the government, a report said. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh invited the Naga leaders, some of whom are in exile, in a message delivered at the talks in Bangkok, the Press Trust of India) (PTI) news agency reported on Friday.
"The talks went off very well and we have accepted the prime minister's invitation to visit India," a member of the rebel delegation told PTI. Dates had not been fixed for the visit but it was likely to be during mid-November or December, said the member, who did not want to be identified. The government and National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) negotiators were due to issue a joint statement after further talks on Saturday. The NSCN's two exiled leaders, Thuingaleng Muivah and Isak Chishi Swu, were to be joined at the talks in Thailand by 10 of the group's Nagaland-based leaders, a spokesman for the Isak-Muivah faction told AFP this week. The discussions are the second round being held in Thailand since the Congress-led government in New Delhi took over in May. More than 25,000 people have been killed in the Nagaland rebellion -- the country's longest-running separatist insurgency -- since it was launched at India's independence from Britain in 1947.
The NSCN entered a ceasefire with New Delhi in 1997 and the two sides have since held several rounds of talks in Switzerland, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Thailand, Japan and Malaysia. The NSCN wants the creation of a "Greater Nagaland" by carving slices off the neighbouring states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Manipur -- all of which have sizeable Naga populations. The demand is, however, not acceptable to the other states in the northeast.