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06/06/2008: "Congratulations to the Government of India, GOI, for winning the war against the Naga Peoples of Nagalim"

A Naga International Support Center , NISC, www.nagalim.nl
A human rights organization
Press Release
Amsterdam, June 6 2008

Congratulations to the Government of India, GOI, for winning the war against the Naga Peoples of Nagalim
(the between India and Burma/Myanmar divided Naga Homeland)

After more than a decade of ceasefire and fruitless peace talks the great divide and rule policy has paid off handsomely. Instead of fighting against and negotiating with the Government of India, Nagas are killing each other. As the only thing left for the prestigious GOI do is to clean up the rubble, the Naga International Support Center, NISC, congratulates the Government of India, GOI, with its victory over the Naga Peoples.

No doubt overjoyed while celebrating your success the GOI might be wise to reflect on what critics are will comment for their sharp remarks could have national and international political impact. From this long awaited victory, more than five decades of incessant warfare, here are some points on what the GOI might expect:
1 - With an estimated 200.000 of soldiers it took the GOI nearly 60 years to subdue Nagalim, an approximate four million strong nation Over the years this alone has cost the Indian People billions of rupees. No doubt money well spent The GOI will state, but what about the Indian soldiers who lost their lives? NISC is sure that you will be held accountable for those two matters alone. After all your fuming critics will sat that in a democracy elected leaders are accountable to the people. Yet, the thousands of fallen soldiers and the astronomous amount of money spent to win this war, was not accounted for. And the GOI knows it well because it was first Prime Minister Jawharlal Nehru who waged against the Nagas. Could the GOI be afraid if both body count and expenditure of this futile war were public? Now that the war is won we sure the GOI find it money well spent
- Then – killing is killing and through there is no excuse for killing other human beings, but the GOI will say it was a war and lest our own people and solders would get desperate the Armed Forces Special Powers act was needed to curtail unwilling Nagas,. True of course yet the GOI was fully aware this dreadfully inhumane act makes a mockery out of the self professed greatest democracy.
- Also – now that the GOI won the war what will it do with all those people it bought with lots of money and gave fake power; the power of prestige and the power the gun? So much killing has been done – the Armed Forces wiped out an estimated 300.000 Nagas, women, children, old people and so not just soldiers – it could be called genocide.
- As India becomes economically more important this terror act could become known throughout the world and could be requested to explain its celebrations to other nations. The GOI realizing it is vulnerable in this respect as the international press will criticize cover up stories. And worse, not by a long shot that’s all: fact finding missions will be sent out to find out what the GOI has done over the years and much will be uncovered. And because the GOI aspires to play a grand role in the world it will be hard to refuse investigators, yet it knows they will bare the misdeeds done spanning decades.
- And - now that the GOI is close to give Nagas the final knock out, more than ever the critics will be all over it. Why? Because killing is killing and in obscurity but under its direction this senseless killing went on for sixty years. And, having sacrificed your fellow Indians, Soldiers and Nagas, a people not allowed to enjoy their right to self determination, inevitably leads to a deep dent in your prestigious government.

So, once more NISC congratulates the Government of India for its long breath in skillfully dividing the Nagas so they could kill each other;

Nagas history has come full circle?
Bringing the good news of the bible Americans missionaries came to the Nagas. The British. already present, allowed them do that because, compared to their own way of killing adversaries, they abhorred Naga warfare. ‘Headhunting’ as they called was outlawed and ultimately stopped. But, did the British stop killing? No, killing continued but British punishment to that effect was lawful and what Nagas did was not. Later, in 1956, the courageous left their Christianized brothers and sisters as they were told to vacate Nagaland. Independent India believed the Americans had set the Nagas up to revolt against the Union of India. The Americans left and, once back home and safe, did not cry out about the genocide which was going on in obscurity.
Again, congratulations on a job well done right? One wonders how the GOI could accomplish victory where its militarily failed miserably. Before the ceasefire agreement even its own generals lamented that ‘the only way to win the war was to annihilate all Nagas’ and so that “this was not a matter of ‘law and order’ but a ‘political’ matter which could only be solved negotiations.
Realizing the war could not be won militarily, the humanitarian fall out could have done the Government of India in, the GOI hatched and sharpened the divide and rule plan. This contours of this plan became visible with the Shillong Accord. And now, since 1975 but more so during 11 years of ceasefire the once so united Nagas fight each other. They forgot to fight for their rights which the GOI has denied them for so long, their right to live as they wish as a people.
- Since this has been planned for a long time and the ‘situation’ has become favorable for he Government of India, NISC urges the GOI to immediately stop the killing!
To the GOI Nagas are Indians and so in spite of the joy of victory it experiences killing is still killing, a civilized, a respectable nation will do everything necessary to stop the inhumanity. More so from its own point of view this kind of killing does not serve any purpose anymore. Or, is it that the aftermath of this war is feared? Is it fear that someone will open this box of Pandora? Of course, it is one thing to be cunning and win the war but another to stop people from killing each other. Again, Killings are killings and remain killings and cannot ne justified, whatever the reason
Congratulations to the Government of India. May you have enough strength to weather the storms ahead.
For more information visit our website www.nagalim.nl or email to nisc@nagalim.nl