Myanmar's Naga student body slams Kachin Independence Army's aggression

DIMAPUR — The Naga Students' Organisation (NSO), Lahe town, has released a strongly-worded statement in response to the Kachin Independence Army's (KIA) alleged ongoing hostility and provocations against the Naga people in Myanmar's Naga Self-Administered Zone (NSAZ).

In an open letter addressed to the KIA and Kachin people on Tuesday, the NSO warned the KIA and Kachin people that if the current aggression continues, the Kachins will be held fully accountable for any resulting unrest or collapse of peace between the two groups.

 “For decades, the Naga and Kachin peoples have shared a deep bond of brotherhood, grounded in mutual respect, shared struggle, and common aspirations for freedom and dignity.

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“This relationship has long stood as a symbol of ethnic solidarity in the face of oppression. However, in recent years — particularly following the military coup in 2021— this bond has come under serious threat due to repeated and unprovoked acts of aggression from the KIA,” the NSO stated.

The NSO expressed concern over a troubling rise in harassment, illegal detention, and abduction of Naga civilians, including youths, men, women, and minors, travelling to Kachin state for various purposes, such as education, work, healthcare, or trade. It also highlighted that Naga youths were being forcibly taken from gold and jade mines, their homes, and border villages in Kachin state.

The Naga organisation also claimed that hundreds of Naga youths are forcibly conscripted, with some going missing and others feared to be used as human shields in armed conflicts, constituting a direct affront and provocation against the peaceful Naga people.

“Despite these grave provocations, the Naga people have shown restraint. We have not retaliated. Instead, we have continuously extended a hand of peace-hoping the Kachin leadership would come to its senses and remember the strength that once came from our alliance. Yet that hope is wearing thin,” it stated.

It went on to state that on June 7, 2024, a delegation of the NSO attempted to initiate a peaceful dialogue with the KIA leadership to address the growing crisis, but were blocked from proceeding to the KIA headquarters.

Although a discussion was held with lower-ranking KIA officers on June 12-13, it did not yield a constructive resolution. Despite this, they returned in good faith, hoping for a peaceful resolution, but instead, the aggression escalated, the NSO stated.

It also pointed out that on July 18, 2025, KIA forces carried out a heavily armed and calculated operation, outnumbering the Naga Armies, and captured 16 Naga Army personnel along with their weapons at Chanra Gate, in the Naga ancestral region. “This act of hostility had shocked the entire Naga nation,” it stated.

“Let us be clear: Is this a new declaration of war by the Kachins on the Naga people? Are the Kachins now testing the patience and restraint of the Nagas?”

Condemning in the strongest possible terms the provocative act of aggression by the KIA, the NSO demanded immediate, unconditional release of the detained Naga personnel and return of confiscated arms, warning that further delay or harm will be seen as escalating the conflict.

“This message must ring loud and clear to all the Kachins and to all Nagas within and beyond imposed borders of the East West North and South: That should the current Kachin aggression continues, the Kachins alone will be held fully responsible for any future unrest or breakdown of peace between the Nagas and the Kachins,” it warned.

Further, the NSO affirmed that the Nagas, driven by ancestral duty and national pride, would no longer tolerate repeated assaults on their dignity, freedom, or sovereignty, and that it was the Kachins, through the KIA’s actions, who had chosen a path of confrontation, not the Nagas.

“Let it be known that the unity and strength of the Naga people rise in proportion to the injustice inflicted upon us. If pushed beyond our limit, we will respond-not in weakness, but in righteous defence.

“We still hope the Kachin leadership will correct its course. But peace will not come at the cost of our people's blood or betrayal of our cause,” the letter stated.