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02/03/2010: "United we stand! Press Release Naga International Support Center"
A Naga International Support Center, NISC www.nagalim.nl
A human rights organization
Amsterdam February 4 2010
Press Release
United we stand!
It is a strong demand this demand to end Indian Imperialism, but does it hold water, does it stick? The answer to that question is embedded in history and the present: in history when considering the dynamics of Indian policy making and execution of these policies and in the present because indeed despite the right to self determination India does not waver to flaunt that right. India subdues its own people. It is a fact which cannot be denied. It can be disputed, yes; it can be understandable regarding the foundations in history, yes, it can be sold to the international community as a domestic problem, yes, which in some cases may be right, but not in all. yet it cannot be denied that the Government of India disregards the rights of its own people and that of others.
Consequently the statement of the united Kashmiris, Sikhs and Nagas hit the Government of India like a declaration of war.
Granted, already for quite a few years, decades even, India waged war against the Kashmiris, Sikhs and Nagas and the three have victims of the Indian policies have defended themselves as best as they could against the armies which held them under occupation, so why make this stand of unity when no success is at hand? The international community may have enshrined this ‘right to self determination; but does it stand up for the peoples concerned?
The answer is no because India is a recognized sovereign state and the three ‘stooges’ are not. Oh, the international community at times condemns those who inflict death and destruction on the three people mentioned, but cannot act against the arrogant and ruthless warmongers because it is only a domestic problem. Hence:
The Naga International Support Center supports the call for justice by Nagaland, Kashmir and the Punjab, a call which should bring peace and self determination. The Naga International Support Center calls on the International community to hold the Government of India responsible for the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives which have been taken during the course of these long and seemingly unending conflict.
On the basis of these crimes against humanity alone this has to stop and Government of India has to be held accountable. When eyes remain closed to these inhumane realities the international community loses credibility.
For more information: get in touch nisc@nagali,.nl or visit www.nagalim.nl
Kashmiris, Nagas and Sikhs demand end to Indian Imperialism Associated Press Pakistan
LONDON, Jan 26 (APP)- On the occasion of India’s Republic Day, a powerful joint appeal Tuesday to the international community by key Kashmiri, Naga and Sikh leaders has highlighted the fundamental conflicts and contradictions at the heart of the Indian state, as well as the unwavering intent of their nations to secure freedom in accordance with their right to self-determination as enshrined in international law.
They issued a call to the international community to play a constructive role in dismantling India’s unlawful hold on their territories, which has been maintained purely by military means at the cost of hundreds of thousands of innocent lives since 1947, and to restore fundamental freedoms, democracy and the rule of law in the most volatile region of the world.
The leaders included Syed Ali Shah Gilani, Chair of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference in Kashmir, Naga leader Th. Muivah, General Secretary of the NSCN-IM and Kanwarpal Singh of Dal Khalsa in Punjab.
Their message was endorsed by leading organisations based in the respective Diaspora communities which held demonstrations outside the Indian High Commission in London and elsewhere to once again publicly reject the Indian constitution as being applicable to their territories.
Rubbishing India’s claims to be a democratic, secular, peaceable state which complies with its international obligations, they pointed to the reality of a belligerent, militaristic state which oppresses the minorities and nations under its control, which has become a serial violator of international law and human rights.
They said Indian armed forces chief Deepak Kapoor’s recent public comments about bringing both China and Pakistan to their knees within 96 hours of a war betrays the dangerous and aggressive mindset of the Indian establishment which has already conducted undeclared wars on the Naga, Sikh, Kashmiri and other nations using brutal means, systematically violating basic human rights, as routinely pointed out by the world’s leading human rights organisations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty international.
Pending India’s compliance with the international standards the Naga, Kashmiri and Sikh leadership urged the international community to robustly dismiss India’s pretensions to a permanent seat at the UN Security Council.
“It would be the height of folly indeed to reward a serial violator of basic international norms by giving it the means to frustrate the one international body that can hold it to account,” they observed.
They pledged to work together, along with their friends in the region and beyond, in order to promote a peaceful transition from the current unjust framework of Indian colonialism to a new order in South Asia where freedom, peace and security and justice would prevail.
The withdrawal of Indian forces from these occupied territories would be a pre-requisite for that transformation. Instead of indulging itself in Republic Day posturing, India would do better to reflect on the crimes it has committed and its own inherent contradictions.
Threatening its neighbours and inhumanly oppressing minorities may have become the raison d’etre for ‘Hindutva,’ but these policies offend the very notion of religion and will surely ultimately prove suicidal for the Indian state.
It demanded ejecting India from all the UN’s humanitarian bodies until it improves its appalling record of mistreating its religious minorities. In August 2009, the United States Commission for International Religious Freedoms put India on its ‘watch list’ of states that fail to protect such groups.
In the UK, Muhammad Ghalib, Chair of the All Party Kashmir Co-ordination Committee, Amrik Singh Sahota , President of the Council of Khalistan, and the Naga Support Centre all pledged to continue their campaign to enlist international support for the peaceable implementation of their national rights.
Lord Nazir Ahmed, Chair of ‘Parliamentarians for National Self-Determination’, the cross party group at the Westminster parliament which promotes national self-determination, endorsed these demands.
Having been recently denied a visa to visit India specifically because of his support for these causes, he castigated the ongoing oppression of these freedom loving nations and urged the international community to hold India to account for its crimes. Reflecting on India’s refusal to grant him a visa, he noted the move was consistent with India’s attempts to conceal its record by denying human rights groups, UN officials and independent observers access to conflict zones.
He remarked that all this was futile with the true picture is becoming ever more apparent to the global community which will be forced to act sooner or later.
