NSCN (I-M) demands release of Naga political prisoners of war

NSCN (I-M) has demanded release of all Naga political prisoners of war (NPPoW) held by India and Myanmar. In a statement issued through its MIP, NSCN (I-M) alleged that India and Myanmar illegally occupied Naga country and systematically framed the conflict as an internal issue, viewing the Nagas defending their own country as a security threat to their respective countries.
It claimed that the conflict had resulted in detention of numerous Nagas by the respective governments, many of whom had been labelled as “insurgents”, “terrorists”, or arrested under “terror funding” charges. MIP cited the example of Alemla Jamir, a cabinet minister in NSCN/GPRN, who was detained on December 17, 2019 at Delhi airport and later arrested in a terror funding case and continue to remain in Indian custody.
NSCN (I-M) urged the international community to uphold and defend international fairness and justice, promote an equal and uniform application of international law and reject double standards. Opposing the occupation of Nagalim, NSCN (I-M) urged the international community to immediately call India and Myanmar’s illegal occupation into question.
According to NSCN (I-M), the international community should remain committed to the right approach of promoting peace talks, assist India, Nagalim and Myanmar in the conflict, and create conditions and platforms for the three entities to resume negotiations or call for an immediate withdrawal of occupying forces from Nagalim.
Further, NSCN (I-M) also questioned that if it was a terrorist organisation, why India was holding political negotiations with it for more than two decades now and why the negotiations had taken place at the highest political levels. Referring to India’s commitment to the November 18, 2002 memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed in Milan, Italy, that clearly stated and understood that NSCN/GPRN was not a terrorist organisation, the group reasoned that if this was the case, why its members or Nagas were being held on terror funding charges.
It also asked why India signed the Framework Agreement on August 3, 2015, that recognised the Naga issue as an Indo-Naga “political conflict” and was signed as two entities.
NSCN (I-M) claimed that the political conflict between India, Nagalim and Myanmar had lasted more than seven decades, making it one of modern history’s oldest international conflicts. It said the perspectives of India and Myanmar had shaped how the international community viewed the conflict.
It however pointed out that the Nagas were only defending their own country against an invasion and illegal occupation by India and Myanmar after the British had left the Naga homeland. It said there were no official or informal treaties between Naga people and the British during the latter’s occupation of free Naga country. Hence, as the British were about to leave the region, the Nagas declared their independence on August 14, 1947.
Under these conditions, the organisation demanded that all countries’ sovereignty must be respected and international law, including the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, must be strictly followed. It mentioned that the occupying forces India and Myanmar must recognise that all countries, large or small, powerful, or weak, rich or poor, were equal members of the international community.