No softening of stand: NSCN (IM)
Source: The Sangai Express / Newmai News Network

Dimapur, August 26 2018: In an apparent attempt to clear the air of confusion following numerous media reports on the alleged status of the Naga peace talks, the NSCN-IM said today that, at no point of time it had, in the negotiation with the Government of India all these years, softened its stand on the Naga history, identity and inherent rights of all the Nagas.

The NSCN-IM also said that the question of ceding to Indian federation is nothing but desperate attempts by adversaries to deceive the people so that the Nagas' cry for justice is reduced to barrenness.

"The NSCN, in order to make known its firm stand once again on the Naga sacred cause vis-a-vis the Indo-Naga political negotiation, releases this statement for those who insist to remain obstinate to the historical and legitimate rights of the Nagas even after the Government of India officially recognized the Naga history as unique for which the historic Framework Agreement was signed between the two entities to peacefully co-exist with shared sovereignty on August 3, 2015 to usher in a new era," the Naga outfit said.

The Framework Agreement guarantees to safeguard the future of the Nagas, it also said.

"Mutually benefitting both the entities, in return, the Framework Agreement will solve the chronic problem of India, which is her security on the eastern frontier," the NSCN-IM added.

It said that the vested interests within and outside will not understand the sweat, blood and tears which the peace loving Nagas have shed and sacrificed all these years just to live in dignity deserving of indigenous people's rights to decide their own future.

The NSCN-IM also said that "adversaries" are portraying confusion through printed and other social media that loyalty and National aspiration vanished into thin air despite the repeated clarifications on the issue of Naga sovereignty and integration.

According to the NSCN-IM, the fundamental principles of the two relationships that fully respect the aspiration and legitimate rights of the Nagas and recognition of their unique history and situations and committed to a peaceful co-existence in an inseparably inclusive relationship sharing sovereign powers is the basis of the August 3, 2015 Indo-Naga Framework Agreement.

"So, to such a rampant propaganda(s), the Nagas need not pay heed but in perseverance grow stronger in faith to the Almighty God asking His kingdom to be established in Nagalim soon.

The Nagas will never surrender their rights.

The Naga National movement spearheaded by the NSCN is a people's movement," it added.

According to the NSCN-IM, the 'uniqueness of Naga history" is an unparallelled account where each Naga villages since time immemorial lived as a democratic republic and exercised their sovereignty.

"Unlike other Maharajas or kingdoms, no Naga chief ever assented to join the Indian federal union.

Hence, the Nagas' right to self-determination is a derivative of biological, cultural, history and political.

Therefore, the NSCN is prepared to go to any length against those trying to sabotage the ongoing Indo-Naga peace process as we believe that no one has the right to dictate the fate of others for their own convenience," it stated.

The NSCN-IM said that Gen.

(Retd) Kholi Konyak, the vice-president of the outfit, in nobility had conveyed in his speech on the 72nd Naga Independence Day that "we will honor and respect the history and the rights of other peoples and Nations" .

Kholi also said that the Nagas are also ready to understand together with our neighbors on issues of each others' history and rights provided they come with rational and realistic approach, according to the NSCN-IM.

According to the speech of Kholi, the Nagas "do not want to live in hostility with our neighbors, but a peaceful coexistence with our neighbors and peoples respecting each other's history and rights is what we want and, this, we want our neighbors to appreciate, because at the end of the day Naga political solution will be beneficial to them too" .

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