NSCN (IM) on Tuesday asserted that India and Myanmar must immediately release all Naga Political Prisoners of War (NPPoW) and urged the international community to uphold and defend international fairness and justice, promote an equal and uniform application of international law, and to reject double standards.
A statement issued by MIP, NSCN (IM) said it opposed the occupation of Nagalim, and the international community must immediately call India and Myanmar's illegal occupation into question.
“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,” read the statement.
It said the political conflict between India, Nagalim, and Myanmar has lasted more than 7 decades, making it one of modern history's oldest international conflicts.
“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. There 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 occupying forces, India, and Myanmar must recognise that all countries, large or small, powerful, or weak, rich or poor, are equal members of the international community,” it read.
While India and Myanmar “illegally occupied Naga country”, it said 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’.