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07/08/2007: "Another hiccup in Naga talks OUR CORRESPONDENT The Telegraph"

Another hiccup in Naga talks OUR CORRESPONDENT The Telegraph

Kohima, July 3: The peace process in Nagaland is at breaking point again with the Isak-Muivah faction of the NSCN threatening a walkout at the mere suggestion of a negotiated settlement within the constitutional framework.
“We will not agree to the proposal of the government of India…We will just walk away from the talks,” Alezo Chakhesang, the militant group’s “deputy minister” for information and publicity, said from Dimapur. He was reacting to a statement by the Union home ministry that the two sides need to aim for a settlement within the ambit of the Constitution. Chakhesang said the statement indicated Delhi’s deviation from commitments made during earlier rounds of talks.
Another senior functionary of the NSCN (I-M), Karaibo Chawang, questioned the government’s credibility and sincerity. He said the home ministry’s statement could lead to a breakdown of the 10-year-old peace process at a crucial stage. Chawang, a member of the militant group’s steering committee, said both sides had agreed not to make such statements to the media to avoid confusion and misunderstanding. He claimed that his organisation had been upholding that decision and was pained to see Delhi make unrealistic statements.
The NSCN (I-M) leadership has been insisting on a separate constitution for “Nagalim” — the name for the integrated Naga homeland the outfit wants — but Delhi has ruled out any such settlement. The farthest that the government is willing to go is grant more autonomy to Nagaland, albeit without overshooting constitutional benchmarks.
Delhi had handed copies of the Constitution to NSCN (I-M) leaders three months ago, asking them to read the provisos and get back with suggestions on how to align these with the outfit’s demands.
The government intends to fix a date for the next round of talks before the truce lapses on July 31. Home minister Shivraj Patil convened a meeting yesterday to review recent developments in Nagaland, especially the clashes between the NSCN (I-M) and the Khaplang faction in Tizit town of Mon district. National security adviser M.K. Narayanan, home secretary Madhukar Gupta, Intelligence Bureau chief P.C. Haldar and Delhi’s interlocutor for the Naga talks, K. Padmanabhaiah, were present.
The ceasefire monitoring teams of the government and the NSCN (I-M) met in Dimapur on the same day to discuss ways to add teeth to the ground rules of the ceasefire. Lt Gen. (retd) R.V. Kulkarni, the chairman of the Ceasefire Monitoring Group, said the onus was on Delhi to implement the ground rules of the truce in toto.
Delhi’s deadline for members of both the Isak-Muivah and Khaplang factions to go back to their designated camps ended on June 30. Militants of both groups are still seen in public places with weapons.
Nagalim: Oil Prospectors Asked to Wait Unpo
The National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) has asked foreign oil prospectors to wait until the Nagalim issue has been sorted to begin their work.
Below is an article published by the Telegraph:
The National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) has reiterated its stand not to allow oil exploration in “Nagalim” till the longstanding Naga political issue is solved.
The NSCN (I-M)’s vision of Nagalim, an extended homeland for the Nagas, includes all contiguous areas inhabited by the community.
A release, issued by the outfit’s ministry of information and publicity, said: “The government of the People’s Republic of Nagalim will invite Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) or other oil companies in the interest of people of Nagalim only after a correct political situation”.
“Till such time comes, ONGC and Canoro should keep their hands off Nagalim. One nation’s economic interest should not be the basis to ride roughshod over the Nagas’ demands,” the release, received yesterday, said.
Canada-based Canoro Resources Ltd has received permission from Delhi to explore oil and ONGC to resume work in the six blocks held by the company in Nagaland.
The outfit said that Article 371(A) of the Constitution should not be interpreted to allow exploitation of the Nagas.
“We believe that the Canada-based company will usher in economic development. But it has come to Nagalim at a wrong time,” the outfit said. “Please come back when the time is right.”
The outfit also criticised Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio.
It alleged that he had scant respect for the NSCN (I-M) which “enjoys Naga people’s mandate to settle the Naga political issue”.
Our sins will defeat us”: Muivah
DIMAPUR, JULY 3 (MExN): During the just concluded 3-day National Fasting and Prayer Program of the NSCN (I-M) at General Headquarters’ Church, Hebron there is a clear message, in fact, a pleading from the Collective Leadership and over-ground Church Leaders to the National Workers and Naga people that the sins of the Naga society is the focus of God in delaying the Indo-Naga Peace solution, according to an MIP statement.
‘Nobody is going to defeat us, but our own sins,’ Muivah was quoted as repeatedly showing his “pain and turmoil in his heart” as he spoke to the congregation on the concluding day of the program in a highly charged emotion. The prayer items listed in the program reflect the spiritual degeneration of the Naga National Workers.

‘Confession for the sins of National Worker and confession for the sins of Naga people’ are prominently mentioned in the program arranged by the Council of Nagalim Churches (CNC), according to the statement. “True to the spirit of ‘Nagalim for Christ’ such submissive demonstration is to show NSCN’s sincerity and commitment to salvage the Nagalim for Christ Nation at any cost. Significantly, to reconcile with God ‘Total Loyalty to God’ was chosen as the theme of the program.”
Calling for a change of heart, Imti John, Director of Christian Reformation Ministry of Nagaland pointed out that National Workers need to obey God in order to get people’s support. Rev. Thotzii also said that if the Naga people had been loyal to God in the past many years of struggle things would not have been what is seen today. Brother Thomas realizes what the Naga really need today and put the emphasis on total loyalty and not partial loyalty. Rev. Huetui threw further light on the theme and said Nagas should work worthily because there is no discount in God’s account. He went on to say that when the gate of Naga Sovereignty is going to be opened very soon loyalty to God and National Azhas must be kept with everyone. ‘The testing time is coming’, he warned.
Moamenla hit upon the theme and said ‘You will have to exercise the power of choice given by God, but it is God’s desire for the Nagas to be loyal to Him.’ She reminded the congregation that Nagas’ loyalty to God will be tested thoroughly.
Dr. Vikheshe picked up the story of David’s loyalty to God and how victory was given to him ultimately. Dr. Shiwoto minced no word when said ‘There is something wrong with the Nagas, so God is turning rebellions with us’. He then appealed to the congregation that with sincere individual confession national sins will go automatically. To the National Workers he leaves behind a big question to be answered by each individual ‘GPRN has given you authority but are you doing justice?’ Rev. Joshua was of the view that Nagas need to be humble and must recognize the enemy (Nagas’ sins). Referring to the immediate necessity of the Nagas, he said ‘This is the time of trouble. We need strong men and women’. Quoting Aristotle he wound up, ‘The hardest victory is victory over self.’
“NSCN Chairman Isak Chishi Swu rued over the fact that during the 63 years of the Nagas’ political struggle with thousands of lives lost and particularly during 10 years of ceasefire in the land of ‘Nagalim for Christ’ many high ranking NSCN cadres have gone astray from the national path. He fervently appealed to the National Workers to make best use of the National Fasting and Prayer program to change themselves. Quoting from the book of Corinthians he reportedly said ‘Now is the accepted time and now is the time of salvation’. “He further emphasised that Nagalim is a chosen nation and therefore, every moment of Nagas’ life should be dedicated to God’s chosen purpose.”
According to the statement, NSCN General Secretary Th. Muivah said, ‘I believe God is within us. Heaven is clear to me; the world is clear to me. Earlier I was in confusion. I thank God, for he does not want me to live in confusion.’
“He placed before the congregation that Jesus made a wonderful Nagalim, but Satan is strongly doing his work to have his own way of destruction.”
On the sins of National Workers, he said ‘Our biggest enemy is our sins and it will destroy us if we don’t confess and leave the sinful life behind. But refusing to confess has become our biggest weakness. If we don’t have the courage to confess we are not for Christ and ‘Nagalim for Christ’ and that is going to destroy Nagalim’. Again, he made it a point, ‘If we are to understand the true meaning of Nagalim we need to understand the meaning of confession’.
“He was in his exhausted mood as he repeatedly appealed to his National Workers the urgency of turning to God saying ‘Now is the time to repent and confess, then only Nagalim will be save.’”
Dr. Shiwoto, in his concluding remark said “Let us make a new covenant in our heart to make a meaning of the 3 day National Fasting and Prayer program”. The program concluded with the congregation singing the song of hope and victory “We Shall Overcome Someday”.

Four Indian villages burnt down BBC

More than 20 villagers were injured in the attack Pic: Bhaskarjyoti Bora
Armed residents of India's north-eastern state of Nagaland have burnt down villages in the neighbouring state of Assam, police say.
Two villagers were killed when hundreds of Nagaland residents crossed the border and torched four settlements in Geleki, in Sibsagar district.
More than 20 villagers have been injured in the attack, police said.
Nagaland claims part of Assam as its own territory, while Assam says some of its land has been occupied by Nagaland.
Assam police official DK Pathak told the BBC that nearly 100 houses were set on fire by armed villagers from Nagaland in Geleki early on Thursday.
Many villagers have fled the area of the attacks in panic.
'Forcible occupation
Nagaland was created as a separate state by carving the former Naga Hills district out of Assam in 1963 after a rebellion broke out there in 1956.

The separatist National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) has been demanding integration of all Naga inhabited territories of Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh with the state of Nagaland to create a greater Naga state. Nagaland claims thousands of square kilometres of territory in Assam as its own.
Assam alleges that Nagaland has forcibly occupied a huge area of its territory, declaring it an administrative sub-division of its own called Niuland. Angry Nagas burnt down 10 government schools in Manipur state on Wednesday.
Seven schools set afire in Manipur The Hindu
Imphal, July. 4 (PTI): Seven government higher secondary schools in three hill districts of Manipur were set on fire today, prompting the authorities to beef up security measures in the state. The motive behind the incident or the identity of the miscreants was not immediately known, official reports said adding no individual or group has claimed responsibility.
Activists of a hill-based students' organisation which wanted affiliation of schools in Manipur hill districts to the Nagaland Board of Secondary Education were, however, suspected to be behind the incidents.
Official sources said major portions of three government schools in Senapati district and two each in Chandel and Ukhrul districts were gutted in the fire by unidentified persons.
Security measures and patrolling were intensified in Tamenglong hill district following apprehensions that they might also attempt to do the same there, official reports said.
Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh and Education Minister L Jayantakumar Singh have appealed to the people not to launch any violent agitation but to protect the educational institutions in the interest of the students' community.
Adequate security measures would be taken at all vulnerable places where miscreants might attempt to set afire educational institutions both in the valley and the hill areas, the sources said.
The Nagas not for self-determination- Nagaland Post
History will always tell that soon after India obtained her independence from her colonial master nation Great Britain in 1947, India invaded Nagaland in 1954 without any reason, but thinking that before the world come to know her naked aggression on Nagaland; she would defeat the Nagas in a short period of time.
But the Nagas relentlessly and vigorously defended the sovereignty of Nagaland, hence the war between the two nations (India and Nagaland) drugged on along periods. The Government of India therefore attempted to project the Indo-Naga war as an internal affair of India, and as a process the Indian leaders set up a puppet Indian state in Nagaland in 1960. Moreover, they played divide and rule policy and thus created factions among the Naga brothers.
In this Indo-Naga war, friendly foreign nations extended help to free the Nagas from the Indian Military occupation in 1960s. Rev. Michael Scott (a British) also approached to help the Nagas and through his initiation, the international cease-fire agreement was signed between the two nations in 1964. But his proposal to help solve the Indo-Naga conflict was an attempt to project the conflict as an internal affair of India. Thus the Federal Government of Nagaland turned down the proposal in March 1965. The said proposal 'self-determination' was later known as Suisa's proposal, which is now utilized by Isak-Muivah group and made it as 30-point competencies proposal and submitted to the Government of India in 2001.
Now also some foreign NGO leaders voluntarily extended to help solve the Indo-Naga conflict, such as Frans Welman, founder of Naga International Support Center (NISC), Grace Collin group in USA, Naga Solidarity group in London, Quaker group in U.K. David P. Ward, founder of Naga Vigil in U.K. etc. Those foreigners visited Nagaland and conducted their study on Indo-Naga conflict. Ward has even managed to reach Eastern part of Nagaland in 2001 and studied how terrible crimes were committed by Isak-Muivah group against Eastern Naga civilians. Therefore, he strongly stood against Isak-Muivah group for human right violations in Eastern Nagaland. But he also attempted to split the NNC/FGN once again and tried to implement the proposal of Michael Scott. This is indeed, not a help to the Nagas and Naga nation.
Also Frans Welman, Grace Collin and Naga Solidarity Group are wrongly propagating to the outside world that the Nagas are demanding self-determination from India. Which is same proposal with that of Rev. Michael Scott and through which they are projecting the Indo-Naga war as an internal affair of India. The word 'self-determination' was clearly defined by Grace Collin in her book "Goodwill Missions Team report" in page 11 that "Originally the principle of self-determination was applied specially to people under colonial domination fighting a liberation struggle for political independence and statehood."
Our history is unique and clear that the Nagas had never become a colonial subject of other nation in the human history. The Nagas are a nation and we are defending our sovereignty against aggressor India. Therefore, if anyone propose self-determination for the Nagas as a solution to the Indo-Naga conflict is only attempting to project the Indo-Naga war as an internal affair of India, and this will not be of help to the Nagas because self-determination or an autonomous statehood will not be a solution to the Indo-Naga conflict. But unconditionally withdrawal of all Indian Armed Forces from Nagaland and the international recognition of Nagaland as a sovereign and independent nation will only be a solution to the Indo-Naga conflict. And the Nagas would like to request foreign NGO leaders to help recognize the Nagas as a nation and a people by the international communities. This will be a big help to the Nagas and Naga nation.
Thomas, NNC Member.
Centre holds high level meeting on Nagaland Zee News
New Delhi, July 02: With the Centre's ceasefire with NSCN-IM coming to an end on July 31, the government on Monday held a high-level meeting to review the security situation in Nagaland.

The meeting was chaired by Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil and was attended by national security adviser M K Narayanan, Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta, Intelligence Bureau Chief P C Haldar. Centre's interlocutor for Naga talks K Padmanabhaiah was also present in the meeting.

Sources said the Centre was of the opinion that a solution to the decades-old Naga problem had to find out within the constitutional framework.

The NSCN-IM has been insisting on a separate Constitution for its envisioned 'Nagalim', though the Centre has ruled out such an entity. They said that the Centre might give more autonomy but it would be done only as per the provisions of the Constitution. NSCN-IM leaders have been pressing for an early solution to the problem. Bureau Report

NSCN for talks before oil tapping OUR CORRESPONDENT The Telegraph
Kohima, July 2: The National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) has reiterated its stand not to allow oil exploration in “Nagalim” till the longstanding Naga political issue is solved.
The NSCN (I-M)’s vision of Nagalim, an extended homeland for the Nagas, includes all contiguous areas inhabited by the community.
A release, issued by the outfit’s ministry of information and publicity, said: “The government of the People’s Republic of Nagalim will invite Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) or other oil companies in the interest of people of Nagalim only after a correct political situation”.
“Till such time comes, ONGC and Canoro should keep their hands off Nagalim. One nation’s economic interest should not be the basis to ride roughshod over the Nagas’ demands,” the release, received yesterday, said. Canada-based Canoro Resources Ltd has received permission from Delhi to explore oil and ONGC to resume work in the six blocks held by the company in Nagaland. The outfit said that Article 371(A) of the Constitution should not be interpreted to allow exploitation of the Nagas.
“We believe that the Canada-based company will usher in economic development. But it has come to Nagalim at a wrong time,” the outfit said. “Please come back when the time is right.”
The outfit also criticised Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio. It alleged that he had scant respect for the NSCN (I-M) which “enjoys Naga people’s mandate to settle the Naga political issue”.
Nepotism/Corruption in Nagaland Govt. Departments- Nagaland Post
The employment sce-nario in Nagaland is very pathetic due to the appointment policy adopted by the Government. In almost all the departments, appointment of Gazetted officers' post are made directly by the Minister concerned, Secretary or the Director. Where as it is clearly mentioned in the P&AR notification that such appointments should be made by the NPSC, who are authorized to hold competitive exams after the posts are duly advertised in the news paper.
But it is very sad that the higher authorities are rampantly appointing their kith and kin thereby depriving thousands of educated youths even to appear in the exams leaving aside getting appointment. Especially in the Rural Development Department, this illegal practice (of appointing) has reached its zenith.
Many qualified youths are denied of their rights to Government job just because their parents are not as powerful and rich as those privileged few who manage to appoint their sons and daughters to officer's posts giving a damn to the existing rules and regulations. It is alleged that the Department of RD had appointed more than 20 (twenty) officers directly this year alone without advertising the posts.
There is a limit for everything. Nagas generally very understand when it comes to such matters, but one should not take too much advantage just because the department is under his or her domain. In the case of R.D Department, if it is to be believed, the minister concerned had appointed not only one but two of his own children to gazetted posts, flaunting the existing rules they themselves framed. And I am afraid that if such things are not checked now, the future of the general Naga youths is very bleak. Even the recruiting agency NPSC is not spared by this disease. The department is under scanner for the recently concluded exam, where by it is alleged that the marking pattern was not followed as indicated in the question papers thereby denying the opportunity of many eligible candidates. All appointment letters/orders for gazetted posts in Nagaland are deemed to have been issued by His Excellency the Governor, as indicated in the appointment orders. But it is doubtful whether he is at all consulted, or in the knowledge of such illegal practices right under his nose. For the educated Naga youths, behind those dark clouds, one would see only pitch black clouds looming around, if corrective measures are not initiated now.
Akheto Yepthomi Kenuozou colony Kohima
Constitution to be the answer to Naga row SWARAJ HAPA
NEW DELHI JULY 1: Naga leaders, engaged in protracted talks with the Centre to end the decades-old Naga problem, will have to look for solutions in the Indian constitution. The government has handed out copies of the constitution to Naga leaders, asking them to pore over it carefully and get back with ideas and suggestions.
For the next three months, NSCN (IM) leaders will be looking possibilities that the constitution could offer on mechanisms aimed at taking the talks forward. The NSCN has been insisting on a unique special federal relationship between India and Nagalim and have been demanding a separate constitution for its envisioned Nagalim. It has even formed a committee to draft such a document.

The Centre, however, has ruled out a separate entity for Nagalim. While affirming that it is willing to give more autonomy, its interlocutors have made it clear that this can only be done as per provisions of the Indian constitution. While no date has been fixed for the next round of talks, government managers said that a three month interregnum has been informally decided upon.
NSCN leaders though have been pressing for an early solution, time and again threatening to call off ceasefire, which is now in its tenth year.

I-M makes its stand clear on oil exploration Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, June 30: Making its stand clear on the oil exploration, NSCN (I-M) has stated that it was in the year 1994 when NSCN stopped ONGC operation in Nagalim to drive home the point that NSCN’s level of tolerance did not cover economic exploitation of any form and that economic exploitation under the garb of economic development will not be allowed to take place.

In a statement, ministry of information and publicity of the outfit asserted that when Nagas’s political right has been suppressed and denied for nearly 60 years further provocation and exploitation will have to be questioned from the Nagas’ historical perspective.

Anything of exploration of Nagas’ natural resources before the political settlement of Indo-Naga issues is to be interpreted as ‘economic exploitation’.

Politics and economics are two subjects very dear to the Nagas and these two cannot be separated, the NSCN (I-M) said adding that political development when not moving ahead at the expected speed should not be preceded by exploitation of the mineral resources under the pretext of economic development.

The statement pointed out that the GPRN under the ministry of forest, environment and mineral has already clarified that as far as economic resources is concern what is on the ground ,above the ground and under the ground belongs to the people.

In this context, article 371 (A) of the Indian Constitution should not be interpreted to go again the Nagas’ economic right.

Nagas’ economic right shall be exploited by Naga people’s full consent but only after getting the deserved treatment on the Nagas’ political right under the dominant Government of India.

GPRN fully agrees that the Canada-based company CANORO Resources Limited’s argument that oil exploration in Nagalim will bring economic development.

But the undeniable reality is that the Canadian company has come to Nagalim at the wrong time, Our message is ‘Please come back when the right time comes’.

This is to defend CANORO’s reputation and not to be a part of the exploitative mindset of the Government of India’s oil giant ONGC.

Under the present political scenario when Indo-Naga political negotiation is going on, the Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio should have exercise the courtesy of inviting NSCN in the meeting participated by ONGC, CANORO Resources Limited, Geology and Mining.

Where is his respect for the NSCN that enjoys Naga people’s mandate to settle the Nagas’ political issues ?, it questioned.

The statement categorically stated that there will come a time, provided a correct political situation is created when GPRN will invite ONGC and other foreign companies for oil exploration in the interest of Nagalim’s economic development.

But till such time comes ONGC and CANORO should keep their hands off Nagalim.

One nation’s economic interest should not be the basis to make roughshod of Naga’s God given over its natural resources, the statement said.
NSCN-IM reacts to David Ward- Nagaland Post
We bear no ill-will and prejudice towards any British, even David Ward the coordinator of the so-called Naga Vigil. But it is pretty long since David Ward has been pouring venomous propaganda upon the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN), the one and only authentic political organization of the Naga people, which spearheads their national resistance movement against the aggression of the Indian and the Burmese states. We feel that David Ward has no reason to pick a quarrel within the Nagas, who have neither stolen even a needle from him nor are indebted to him at all. But we wonder how he is hell bent on doing mischief to the Naga politics. His continuous attempts to tear down NSCN, the champion of the Naga cause have provoked us to question his credibility. His biography tells us that David Ward is a man with a criminal record who has been condemned and convicted by the court. Usually, such kind of common criminal, as David, is ostracized by the society and excommunicated by the church in Christian countries. Who is David Ward to question the sanctity of NSCN? What authority/right does he have to meddle in the affairs of the Nagas?
For your kind information we would like to tell you Ward of the legitimacy of NSCN. You can rest assure that NSCN is mandated by the Naga people. It is a people based organization and it is Naga national principle-based. And so there should be no shred of doubt about it. You say "Naga Vigil does not recognize NSCN". It is ridiculous. Does the Naga national require the recognition of the British convict? It is immaterial for the Nagas whether your 'Vigil' recognizes NSCN or not. Know that the Naga national issue being wedded by NSCN is not a game of a common criminal. David Ward should discipline his mouth, which is too wicked to speak the truth. NSCN has not killed innocent persons as alleged by you. You always distort the facts of the Nagas in order to please the adversaries of the Nagas on the one hand and make money out of it on the other. You must not compel us to open the Pandora box.
MIP, GPRN NSCN-IM
NSCN (K) to reject peace with rival Nagaland Post
Dimapur, July 4 (NPN): In a significant declaration, the NSCN (K) Wednesday announced that it would reject any attempt for peace with the rival NSCN (I-M).
Senior NSCN (K) leader Wangtin Naga told Nagaland Post that unless the Nagaland GBs’ Federation and the Nagaland DBs’ Association opposed the “terrorist activities of NSCN (I-M) and stand up against anti-Naga forces”, there was no point agreeing to any kind of peace process.
The statement of Wangtin came against the backdrop of the recent killings of five NSCN (K) men by the NSCN (I-M).
He lamented that though the NSCN (K) positively responded to the four-point resolutions of the GBs and the DBs, aimed at restoring peace in Nagaland and bringing the factions under one umbrella, yet the NSCN (I-M) continued its aggression by killing five NSCN (K) members at Wokha and Tizit-Namsa in two separate incidents recently.
Wangtin said in the Wokha incident, the NSCN (K) men saw the rival activists approaching but restrained in order to respect the resolutions of the GBs’ federation and the DBs’ association.
NSCN-IM release book on “Eastern” Nagaland The Morung Express
Dimapur, July 4 (MExN): Observing that Nagas from “Eastern” Nagaland are denied human and political rights, the NSCN-IM’s MIP has released a book “Naga homeland in danger: The politics of constitution in Myanmar. The book was released by NSCN-IM chairman Isak Chishi Swu at Hebron during the first-day session of the organization’s joint council meeting.
According to the MIP, the book is a vivid account of the plight of Nagas in “Eastern Nagalim” under Myanmar divided by the British from “Western” Nagaland in total violation of the Nagas’ right to exist as one political body. “The manner of exploitation against the Nagas is nothing but unfair and inhuman as the boundary (is) made to run through villages, fields and even homes” an MIP issue noted.
The “political plight of the Nagas and gross injustice being done to the Nagas by the successive governments in Myanmar can no longer be tolerated by the Nagas in general and the NSCN in particular, the organization stated. This is the reason why the MIP has brought out the book to expose to the whole world on what the military junta is doing to further divide the Naga homeland, it stated.
The MIP informed that “This book is to drive home the point that the world should no longer remain silent to the act of treacherous imposition by slicing away Nagas’ land in the guise of creating a Naga state but which excludes most important townships and mineral-rich areas.”
The book also exposes the condition of the “Eastern” Nagas under the coercive control of the Myanmar military junta; the junta continues to commit excessive human rights violations the NSCN-IM stated. “The book point out the dirty politics or game plan of drafting a new constitution putting the Nagas at the receiving end” the MIP stated.
The NSCN-IM also mentioned the “storm of controversy is national convention.” What the convention is, its implication on the Nagas, how the land and resources are being destroyed in the name of development etc can be found out in the book, it stated. “Importantly, the book is worth gold in pushing forward the Nagas’ aspiration for homeland now divided across two countries, sub-divided under different state controls and facing further division in eastern Nagalim” it added.
India kills itself in Manipur Bijo Francis Column the Morung Express

There is only a finite difference between sense and nonsense, particularly when the context is regarding implementation of legislations. However, for some, this finite distinction, is the difference between life and death.
In a press conference held in Delhi, the Defense Minister of India, A. K. Antony said that in decisive circumstances the armed forces require special laws to protect their rights. The response was in justification to the defense ministry’s objection in repealing the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA) and its application in various parts of India, particularly in India’s northeastern state of Manipur. What the minister conveniently forgot was the plight of thousands of people who are tortured, murdered and raped by the armed forces under the cover of this law.
Soibam Mithun, is a young man aged 23, from the town of Moreh, in Manipur. He told me his story -- a harrowing account of torture he faced at the hands of the Indian armed forces, acting under AFSPA, in this extremely sensitive Indian state.
“I came to Moreh to tutor children after I finished my 12th grade in school. On the night of July 21, 2006, I opened the door, hearing someone outside. I wanted to go out but my brother and mother held me back. Then an army officer stepped into the light. He asked all of us to step outside. As we came out, soldiers poured into the house. We were told to stay with our hands raised while one pointed his rifle at us.
The officers who went inside came out with some compact discs. An arrest memo was produced which I did not see anyone preparing. However, my name was mentioned on the memo along with that of the underground insurgent group - United National Liberation Front (UNLF). I was beaten up and later thrown into an SUV vehicle commonly used by the army. My brother and mother protested, but no one heard them and an officer threatened that if they made more noise then they would take my brother too. Still my brother did not stop shouting. My mother was so scared that she held her palm across my brother’s mouth to keep him silent.
I was taken to the 24 Assam Rifles’ camp. There, I was blindfolded and taken to a room. My legs and hands were tied and I was told to lie face up on a wooden cot. My legs were stretched and my underwear was removed. Then, a wire was tied to my testicles and an electric current was passed through it. I had not suffered anything shocking like that in the past. They hit me on the back of my head with a rifle butt and accused me of being a UNLF cadre. I told them that I am not. The more I said that I was not connected with any organisation and that I was making a living by private tutoring, the more they hit me and applied electric shocks. For a moment, my blindfold was removed and I saw others like me in the same room being tortured in a similar manner.
The interrogation continued for a few hours, until 4am. Later, I was told to have some tea, but when the tea was brought, they poured it on my thigh instead. The scar is still there. The next morning, they made me sit in the sun and forced me to eat chilies. They also sprayed chili powder in my eyes. I could not urinate and so they handed me some tablets, which they forced me to take and told me to drink lots of water. Still I could not urinate. Then an officer came and threatened me again. He asked many questions about my association with the UNLF. I repeated that I was not a member of any such organization. They asked me, “Who fired the shells?” “Who killed the Subedar [an army rank]?” I said that I was in the city of Imphal during the time of that incident. However, they thought I was lying.
At about 4pm I was blindfolded again. When the blindfold was removed, I found myself in a police station. They kept me there for a day and the next day took me to Imphal to the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court. I was in police custody until the 27th when they took me back to the court, which released me on bail the same day.
I have no words to explain how I feel now. It is very difficult to put it all in words. One has to go through it to understand it. I am so scared of the army that I do not feel comfortable when an army person is traveling in the same bus with me. I find it difficult to even step out of my house as soldiers line the roads throughout the day and night. I still have urinary problems as well as problems with my testicles despite the ongoing treatment.
I do not think I can live here anymore. I do not know what to do now. I want to end my life.” The Defense Minister of India does not know the plight of people like Mithun and the serious nature of torture they have undergone. What he does know is the ‘success’ stories of the armed forces, often briefed by his secretaries.
The AFSPA is one of the worst legislations that the Indian Parliament has passed in its history. Under this law, all security forces are given complete impunity to carry out their operations, once an area is declared disturbed. Even a non-commissioned officer is empowered to shoot and kill on mere suspicions that necessitate maintaining “public order.” Over the decades, this law has claimed hundreds of lives.
The AFSPA contravenes all basic norms of both Indian and International law. The Attorney General of India in response to the United Nations Human Rights Committee’s questions in 1991 used the same argument Antony as the Defense Minister used while justifying the continuous use of this law. The Attorney General said that even if the law contravenes Article 4 of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, which India has ratified, it is required to be used in the north-eastern states on a ‘war footing’ due to the threat of insurgency both within and outside its territorial borders.
The continuing use of the AFSPA in India raises a few questions. Has the situation improved in any form, in places where the AFSPA has been applied? Has it improved the morale of the armed forces? Has it reduced violence in these regions? Has the Act helped to bridge the gap between the local population and the government?
If the answers to all these questions are an emphatic NO, then why should the implementation of this law continue? The Defense Minister of India and his government owe an answer to Mithun and others like him, victimized by this law.
Nagas struggle and the world NP Ariiphre-ou Perspective The Morung Express
These touching words are engraved on the epitaph that stands tall in middle of Kohima which hosts one of the most spectacular British memorial cemeteries for soldiers, who gave their lives during the World War II in the eastern frontier near today’s Indo-Burma border.
The end World War II brought the phenomenal upsurge of demands for national self-determination around the world. It was decolonization process initiated by many nation states gaining sovereignty from their former colony powers particularly in Asia and Africa. However, in the process of decolonization and granting of independence to many larger nation states, numerous rightful demands or assertion/declarations of nationhood by multitudes of the minority and indigenous peoples like that of the Nagas were ignored.
The Naga story spans more than half a century struggle predating many struggles around the world and contemporaries with Palestinians. The fact that the Naga struggle has not received international recognition or visibility is due the crucial interplay of ‘real politix.’ Either the Naga struggle does not connect to the rich northern hemispheres interest or a Rwanda-like genocide is needed to provoke the humanitarian consciousness of the so-called western world.
Before the 1997 signing of a formal cease-fire between the Naga resistance groups, the NSCN, and the Government of India, the print and electronic media did not make any sensible coverage of the Naga people and their more than half century struggle.
Prior to this historical cessation of open armed conflict between the Indian military and the Naga Army, Indian media nationalistically upheld total censorship of the events in its most isolated northeast, except for cursory stories of the number of killings and counter killings by the state forces and the insurgents or the exotica of the hill tribes of the region.
Sometimes stories don’t get told simply because those in power make damned sure they don’t….India’s censorship of its war in Nagaland has been successful. Helped by geography, the Indian authorities have succeeded by making it a no-go zone. Nagaland is one such case.’ as Vanessa Baird of the New Internationalist declared.
The virtual martial rule under which the Naga communities have struggled and survived in the past almost sixty years has hardly been publicized or reported to the public in the Indian subcontinent; leave alone the reportage in the international media or forums. For the past half century, the Indian state totally censored the events in the Naga homeland apart from portraying the people negatively and majestic blue mountain ranges.
Since 1955, Indian Government has put a blanket ban on the entry of its own national media and conscientious Indian citizens by using many of the inherited colonial legacies such as the Inner Line Permit (ILP) regulation. The imposition of Restricted Areas Permit (RAP) or Protected Areas Permit (PAP) by the Indian Ministry of Home affairs to regulate and aggressively monitor the foreign travelers has left this part of the world off the route for tourist destinations despite its amazing beauty and wealthy diverse eco-system.
In December 1960, a press team comprising of western and Indian newspaper correspondents were allowed into the conflict zone escorted by the security officials for a meeting with selected state clients.
There was an unpleasant epilogue to the trip. The foreign correspondence had incurred the animosity of the conducting officer, chief of External affairs press relations, PN Menon, by their insistence on hearing any free and articulate Naga who wanted to speak to them. On our return to Delhi what amounted to a campaign of slander against us was begun, originating in the Press office and disseminated through their touts in the local papers – in which there appeared accusations that we had deliberately encouraged the rebels. It seems to be petering out now Neville Maxwell to the Times in January 1961.
One of the only western correspondents to have moved freely with the Nagas in recent times was Gavin Young. He managed to enter through the eastern corridor of the Naga homeland via Burma. Young’s articles were published in The Observer London about his account of his visit to Nagaland in 1961.
However, today after many decades of armed political conflict, the perception is changing with the formal cessation of military conflict after the 1997 signing of ‘ceasefire’ agreement. The realization that the Indo-Naga conflict is of a political nature and that peaceful means was necessary to find a political solution discarding the ‘military option’ has given rise to new hope for the possibility of Naga exercising their right to self-determination and the eventual removal of imposed barriers for reunification of Naga homeland.

Colonial Entrapment
The British entered the Brahmaputra valley in the early 1820’s but it was only at the close of the 19th century that British colonizers were able to virtually commence a semblance of control and administration in some part of ‘Naga Hills’. “The Nagas, traditionally accustomed to their sovereignty strongly resisted the imposition of British authority, suffering the destruction of their villages and crops as a result.” They were however cautious and maintained a ‘non-interference’ policy with the Naga’s socio-cultural setup which they considered to be highly organized apart from the ceremonial head-hunting culture.
The British introduced opium in certain pockets of the Naga Frontier areas to subdue the more mobile communities. Overtime, this became a serious societal problem the affects of which the Nagas continue fighting to this day. However, the works of American missionaries whose charitable intervention in the forms of establishing English medium educational institutions and introducing the Christian faith are considered to have propelled the Naga society to a higher level of organisation and sophistication.
Despite the British occupied and administered parts of some Naga territories, its sphere of influence did not penetrated to more than half of the Naga territories which Nagas considered as the ‘free Naga land.’ The British created and perpetuated the concept of ‘non-interferences’ in relating with Nagas has also been partly for their own vested interest particularly where they consider the zone as a perfect geo-strategic buffer zone between British India and China. Or as I saw in the British TV Channel 4 series depicting how a wooden sledge, like the one used by Nagas, were used to explain how the large stone monoliths might have been brought and arranged on the highland around Stone Henge, representing the British anthropologist’s search for a solution to their anthropogenic origins.
The Nagas experiences of the two major world wars, initially as volunteer labor corps in Europe during the Ist World War (1918) and, secondly, the agonizing experiences of the final victory of the British in the East over the intruding Japanese forces during the 2nd World War (1940’s) which was fought in the deep jungles of Naga homeland. These war experiences have to a large extent cemented the consciousness and rapport of the different ethnic communities under the banner of the Naga National consciousness and their united urge for self-rule.
Prior to the British Administration in India relinquishing their power, Nagas had already clearly stated their position for a sovereign independent state. “In the 1920’s the Nagas reasserted a right to be independent. In 1937, the Naga Hills were renamed ‘Naga Hills, excluded area’ to underline these demands. By 1940s the position uphold by the radical Naga National Council, under the leadership of A. Z. Phizo, demanded the creation of an independent, Sovereign Naga state. ”
At the close of British colonial rule in February 1947, the Nagas framed a scheme to the British Government and the Government of India asking that “an interim Government be set up for a period of ten years, at the end of which Naga people will be left to choose any form of Government.” This proposal for ten year guardianship, though negotiated, fell short of self-determination and was rejected by the Nagas. In 1949 after Independence, the Indian Government followed-up with the Negotiations where the British had left off.
Despite repeated engagement both entities failed to arrive at an agreement. India later rescinded from the process and contradictorily stated that ‘the desire for independence’ was held by only few educated ‘extreme’ Nagas. This has prompted an ongoing low intensity conflict in the region for the past six decades.

Naga Homeland
On 14 August 1947, when the British decolonization was taking place in the Sub-continent, the Nagas under the platform of Naga National Council (NNC) declared their own independence. However, their right to sovereignty was denied and the Naga country was arbitrarily divided and incorporated into the newly Independent Indian State. In keeping with past colonial and neocolonial designs, a part was sliced out into Burma (Myanmar). Subsequently on 16th May 1951, the Nagas carried out a voluntary plebiscite in which 99.9% of the people voted for an independent Naga state in an affirmation of the Naga declaration of Independence from all alien domination, subjugation and exploitation. Even so, India and Burma defiantly ignored Naga’s legitimate rights and unleashed a policy of genocide and militarization leading to thousands of deaths and wide scale repression. As a policy of occupation, the Nagas are today further divided into different ‘administrative units’ like Manipur, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and the Nagaland state within the Indian Union, and remaining areas into Sagaing Division within Burmese state (Myanmar).These divisions systematically denying the Nagas being recognized as an independent political entity by old and new colonial powers. Nagas are minority in all states except the Indian imposed state of Nagaland.

Policy of militarization
Shelby Tucker, the author of the travelogue Among Insurgents - Walking Through Burma” while releasing his book in London (2000) recalls, “I entered through Red china and travel throughout insurgent infested and military Junta territory in Burma, nowhere was I detained or harassed, but when I entered the so called white democratic India, I was detained, interrogated and tortured and that also asking if I have met any Naga. ”
This represents the kind of treatment the Indian states machinery dishes out to outsiders when coming into the occupied areas. By the early 1950’s Naga Patriots organized themselves demonstrating the people’s aspirations through non-violent and non-cooperation movements, to prove the Indian state propaganda that “Naga struggle is a demand by just a few misguided extremist elements” as misplaced and a way of escaping responsibility from engaging constructively for securing peace with the Nagas.
Drummed up conspiracy theories stating that Nagas are not capable to eloquently formulate their demands and that some foreign hand must be involved to retain Naga hills as a imperialist stronghold were further reinforced by Nehru who said in reference to the memo of Naga independence, “as no Naga could have written” it. “Nehru’s view was that the very idea of independence was a piece of mischief planted in the simple Naga soul by some of the British administrators and the missionaries.” Thus, the Baptist missionaries after serving Nagas for nearly 120 years were forced to leave by 1955. This exodus further cutoff Naga’s existence and communication to the outside world.
Newly independent Indian policy makers no doubt had scant understanding on Naga’s worldview and sought advices from the erstwhile British anthropologists who had interacted with some Nagas. Basing on these inadequate competencies, the Indian state conveniently replicated the obnoxious colonial legislation by promulgating the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) of 1958 to deal with the Naga resistance.
The anti-democratic provisions of AFSPA such as granting legal immunity to the Indian Army, as well as power of arrest, right of assembly, search and seizures without warrant, and entitlement to shoot to kill on mere suspicion have with the passage of time eaten into India’s own democratic fibers. The casualties of this massive project of militarization have been the siege on innocent masses and not the fighting armed resistance cadres.
The demand for repeal of AFSPA campaign was taken to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights by local human rights movement – the Naga People’s Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR), where India was questioned for the use of such emergency provisions that are inconsistent with her commitment to international treaties/ convention on respect and promotion of fundamental freedom and human rights. The N P MHR filed a case challenging the constitutional validity of the AFSPA in the Supreme Court of India in 1982, which came up for review in 1997 wherein “the Supreme Court finally ruled, upholding the Act as constitutional.” Despite this temporary hiccup, the momentum of the campaign demanding the scrapping of this draconian legislation which is violative of democratic values has gained ground today as a sub-continental campaign.

Quoting from The Discovery of India where Nehru penned the following goals in 1947:
The right of any well-constituted area to secede from the Indian federation or union has often been put forward, and the argument of the USSR advance in support of it… Before any such right to secession is exercised there must be a properly constituted, functioning, free India. It may be possible then, when external influences have been removed and real problem face the country, to consider such questions objectively and in a spirit of relative detachment, far removed from the emotionalism of today…Thus it may be desirable to fix a period, say ten years later after the establishment of the free Indian state, at the end of which the right to secede may be exercised through proper constitutional process and in accordance with the clearly expressed will of the inhabitants of the area concerned.
On August 15, 2007, India will celebrate its 60th anniversary of national independence from the erstwhile British paramountcy. Will India take a step back to reflect on how its visionary leaders like Nehru have stated to discern how to move forward putting meaning into its democratic credential?
With the International Criminal Court (ICC) coming into operation and with India becoming a member of the UN Human Rights Council; Will India shield herself of the ‘democratic deficit’ on her home grounds, such as the rising violence in central India against the Naxalites, Azad Kashmir in the northwest and the turbulent India’s Northeast? Can India continue to deny the same rights - the right to self-determination - to other struggling nations through the exercise of which, she emerged as a modern independent nation-state? With human rights campaign high on the cyber world will the Indian state evade the harsh accusation of the violation of rights on her minorities or indigenous peoples struggle or will the international community lay back allowing India continue to remain unquestioned for righting the ‘historical accident’ as in the case of the Nagas? Or, will the Indian state look back inward towards here own proclaimed principles of nonviolence and empower her own people, wherein lies her actual strength, to peacefully renegotiate relations amongst the various nationalities and struggles within her territory, on the basis of mutual respect, Justpeace and Ahimsa? Will the Nagas ever give up their aspirations for a sovereign independent state? And as Neville Maxwell remarked in 1973, “(and) Naga irredentism would also be a force to watch for.” With the recent (June 15, 2007) United Nations General Assembly resolution declaring the 2nd October as the International Day of Non violence, it is imperative for India to once again re-embrace the principles of Ahimsa and give credence to what Mahatma Gandhi committed to the Nagas on July 19, 1947, at Bhangi Colony:
Nagas have every right to be independent…. I believe in the brotherhood of man, but I do not believe in force or forced unions. If you do not wish to join the Union of India nobody will force you to do that.
NDFB calls for NH bandh By A Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI, May 13 – The National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) has given a call for a 12-hour National Highway bandh from 5 am tomorrow in protest against the violation of the ground rules of cease-fire agreement by the police and security forces. In a release here today, spokesman of the NDFB, S Sanjarang said that a member of the outfit, N Nerswn alias Naida Narzary was killed by Assam policemen in Dokmoka area of Karbi Anglong district “in cold blood”.

He said that the unprovoked killing of the NDFB man by the Assam police signified the attitude of the Government. The outfit said that the killing of the NDFB man was a clear case of gross violation of the cease-fire agreement ground rules. The NDFB also demanded action against the police personnel responsible for the violation of the ground rules.
Five injured in Guwahati blast Special Correspondent The Hindu
GUWAHATI: Three persons were injured in a blast which occurred near Bora Service locality here on Wednesday night.
Additional Superintendent of Police Rajen Singh said that the blast was caused by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) planted on an auto-rickshaw that went off around 8 p.m. Eyewitnesses said that the auto-rickshaw which was running on Soniram Bora bylane near Bora Service Petrol pump was blown up into pieces injuring the driver and two others seriously.
Earlier on Tuesday a caller identifying himself as Hira Sarania, self styled commander of of ULFA’s 709 Battalion, told some local newspapers that the abducted Food Corporation of India official, P.C. Ram, was still alive and in their custody. The ULFA leader claimed that the body recovered by police at Anandapur village in Baksa district was that of an intelligence agent whom the outfit had punished.
KSU activists released From our Correspondent The Sentinel
SHILLONG, July 4: Fourteen Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) activists who were in jail were released on Wednesday after the Synjuk Ki Seng Longkmie (Mother’s Union) launched an indefinite Satyagraha on Tuesday which prompted the government to pass an order for the release of the KSU activists.
Altogether seven KSU activists were booked under the Meghalaya Prevention Detention Act (MPDA) which includes Daniel Khyriem, Ferdinand Wahlang, Phyrnai Kharkongor, Antonio Warjri and Pyndapbor Lyngdoh Nonglait from Shillong and Fullmoon Wahlang from Nongstoin were released unconditionally. However, Shemphang Syiemlieh from Nongstoin was released on Tuesday after he procured bail.
Other eight KSU activist who were confined in the Shillong district jail which includes Sharai Warjri, Rijied Kurkalang, George Jana, Isaac Basaiawmoit, Iohbor Ramde, Badapkupar Dkhar, Malcayne Nongsiej and Sylvester Basaiawmoit were also released.
The decision to release all the KSU activists including its members who were booked under the MPDA was decided by cabinet who said that the ‘situation is normal.’ Though a person who is arrested and booked under the MPDA cannot be freed unless a representation is made to the state government the case here is not so. The government has decided to do away with the formalities.
Chief Minister DD Lapang said that the decision of the Congress led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) coalition government to free the five KSU activists who had been booked under the MPDA would not dilute the act. He said, “there is a provision for such release.” But, all along the East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner B Dhar maintained that anybody who is arrested and booked under the MPDA cannot be release unconditionally.
The decision of Lapang to release the KSU activists unconditionally stems from the fact that the Mother’s Union had taken up their cause and started demonstrating on the streets.
In 2005, Lapang had the bitter experience of facing the wrath of women organizations when they protested over the Meghalaya Board of School Education (MBoSE) issue. The women had then gathered in front of the Secretariat and police had to use water cannon to disperse them. This snowballed into a major agitation and the then Home and Education Minister Mukul Sangma had to resign. It may be mentioned that on Tuesday the Mother’s Union members clashed with the police in front of the main secretariat. In the evening the cabinet immediately decided to release all the KSU activists unconditionally perhaps apprehending that like in 2005 the situation might go out of control.