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08/16/2005: "Press Release:The Naga International Support Center lauds former President of the United States of America, Jimmy Carter, for praising the Government of India in its efforts to come to an honourable solution to the India Naga Conflict"

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

Press Release

Amsterdam, Thursday August 11 2005

The Naga International Support Center lauds former President of the United States of America, Jimmy Carter, for praising the Government of India in its efforts to come to an honourable solution to the India Naga Conflict

While the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was in the United States, President Carter, the 39th President of the United States of America (1977-1981), sent a letter to the PM and the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN) through the Indian Embassy in Washington D.C. In the letter dated June 18, 2005, he said:

"I am pleased to have this opportunity to address you and to commend your wise and courageous leadership as the Prime Minister of India. For years I am aware of the Naga people and their struggle and hopes for a future that is secure and that I have followed with interest in the current dialogue between the Government of India and the National Socialist Council of Nagalim, NSCN. I am writing today to you and the NSCN leaders to express my appreciation to both parties for the initiative being taken towards a peaceful and lasting resolution. I encourage you to move ahead with your conversation to present an acceptable solution that will assure the rights of the Naga people and the security of India. Great progress has been made in the formal talks called for by the joint communiqué issued from Amsterdam July 11, 2002.”

The Naga International Support Center praises former President Jimmy Carter for his encouraging letter to both parties who have been engaged in this long-standing conflict that has raged since the inception of India. President Jimmy Carter’s commitment to the cause of Peace and Humanity is highly commendable. A man of such commitment deserves the highest praise from all sensible peoples all over the world.

NISC lauds Carter, for he has been courageous enough to propel the legacy of the American Baptists with the Naga Peoples back into their attention. It is commendable that a renowned Baptist has come forward to encourage both parties to end this disastrous conflict. Former President Carter especially deserves this praise because of the long bond that exists between the American Baptists and the Naga Peoples. He did so without showing signs of vindictiveness towards India, which expelled Baptist missionaries almost 50 years ago at a time when the war claimed thousands of victims, including ordinary villagers who fled the onslaught of the Indian Army, which burned their villages.

The Government of India's special representative-cum-chief interlocutor K. Padmanabhaiah and NSCN (IM) General Secretary Th. Muivah issued the Amsterdam Joint communiqué Carter refers to following peace talks in Amsterdam from July 9-11, 2002. The significance of this communiqué was the New Delhi's recognition of the unique history and situation of the Nagas and the NSCN-IM leadership expressing its willingness to hold peace talks within India.

Carter is renowned for his efforts to resolve conflict, promote democracy and protect human rights and prevention of disease. The Carter Center has been engaged in conflict mediation in a number of countries including Ethiopia, North Korea, Liberia, Sudan and Uganda. The Carter Center also hosted the Naga Atlanta Talks in 1997 during which member of NNC, NSCN-K, Naga Church leaders and some Naga individuals participated.

Carter, a Baptist Christian received the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize for "for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development."

Later, Carter became a University Distinguished Professor at Emory University and founded The Carter Center. President Carter and his wife Rosalyn Carter volunteer one week a year for Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit organization that helps needy people in the United States and in other countries renovate and build homes for themselves. He also teaches Sunday school and is a deacon in the Maranatha Baptist Church of Plains.

For more information visit our website www.nagalim.nl or email us at nisc@nagalim.nl

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