Nagaland: NSCN demands release of all Naga political prisoners held hostage in India and Myanmar

The National Socialist Council of Nagaland has demanded the government of India and Myanmar immediately release all Naga Political Prisoners of War (NPPoW).

In a press release, the NSCN stated that the political conflict between India, Nagalim, and Myanmar has lasted more than seven decades, making it one of modern history's oldest international conflicts. 

The NSCN also alleged that were no official or informal treaties between the Naga people and the British during the colonial British Empire's occupation of the Free Naga country. 

"Similarly, on August 14, 1947, as the British were about to leave the region, the Nagas declared independence. Under these conditions, all countries' sovereignty must be respected. International law, including the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, must be strictly followed," the release added.

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The occupying forces, India, and Myanmar must recognize that all countries, large or small, powerful, or weak, rich or poor, are equal members of the international community.

The perspectives of India and Myanmar shaped how the international community viewed the conflict; however, for the Nagas, we are defending our own country against forces that are purely an invasion and illegal occupation by India and Myanmar after the colonial British Empire left the Naga homeland. 

While India and Myanmar illegally occupied Naga country, they also systematically framed the conflict as an internal issue, viewing the Nagas defending their own country as a security threat to their respective countries. The conflict has resulted in the detention of numerous Nagas by the respective governments, many of whom have been labelled as "insurgents", "terrorists", or arrested under "terror funding". Mrs. Alemla Jamir, a cabinet minister in the National Socialist Council of Nagalim/Government of the People's Republic of Nagalim/(NSCN/GPRN), for example, was detained by India on December 17, 2019, at Domestic Airport (T-1) in New Delhi and later arrested in a "terror funding case" and remains in Indian custody.

The self -styled government of the the People's Republic of Nagalim also raised a series of question for India and the international community are and asked if the NSCN/GPRN is a terrorist organization.

"We urge the international community to uphold and defend international fairness and justice, to promote an equal and uniform application of international law, and to reject double standards. We oppose the occupation of Nagalim, and the international community must immediately call India and Myanmar's illegal occupation into question," the release stated.

The NSCN also said that the international community should remain committed to the right approach of promoting peace talks, assisting India, Nagalim, and Myanmar in the conflict, and creating conditions and platforms for the three entities to resume negotiations or call for an immediate withdrawal of occupying forces from Nagalim.