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Naga Peoples Movement for Human Rights

 

A solidarity night for the Naga people was observed as an effort to promote and strengthen the Human Rights movement of the Naga people who have struggling for self-determination and is resisting against its occupation by India. Two participants presented historical realities and background on the 54-year-old Indo-Naga political conflict to provide a perspective of the historical realities of Nagaland.

 

The Naga Peoples Movement for Human Rights (NMPHR) emerged in the border of Myanmar in the East of India and is the main force that is bringing the political issue out.  The neighboring states of Assam, Manipur, and Arunachal Pradesh geographically bind Nagaland. Nagas (Nagalim), constitute of the Mongoloid origins in the Indo-Myanmar border, has a population of 3.5 million. The Indo-Naga political problem has existed for many years, and to the Nagas, the Indians have occupied the land unlawfully. The experiences of the Naga people have been one of political subjugation, domination and occupation of their land and their people. Stories of brutalilty done to human lives and human sufferings where villages have been burnt down, the population being uprooted from their sacred land and the psychological warfare waged to create divisions amongst the Naga people.  Their social and moral fibers are damaged and their way of life being under threat at every level of the society has become the norm in this country. .The Naga people have always resisted and defended their country from this invasion, bringing to the attention of gross violations of human rights. It is important to comprehend the reality that these acts of gross violations of human rights are taking place within a political perspective - in the effort to suppress the rights of the Naga people to live as a free nation. Hence violations of human rights are being legitimized by the enactment of various anti-democratic legislations such as: the Armed Forces Special Powers Act which gives the Indian Armed Forces the power to shoot to kill on mere suspicion; to search, enter and arrest without warrant; that a gathering of five people and more can be declared as an unlawful assembly; and that the soldiers under this act are protected against any legal proceeding.

 

Therefore it implies that the Indian State has legitimized violations of human rights on the Naga people through the enforcement of this Act. This act was Constitutionally upheld by the Supreme Court of India in 1997 after they heard the case based on a Public Interest Litigation filed by the NMHR  to the Supreme Court of India in 1982. For the Naga people, it raised issues of ethical and democratic principles and the presence of internal contradictions because when the Constitution of India guarantees the Right to Life in Article 21, the Armed Forces Special Powers Act provides the power to 'kill.'

 

The Act further implies that the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of India does not have the power to investigate violations of human rights committed by the Indian Armed Forces. It is important to realize here that the violation of human rights are committed by the Indian Army in Naga areas. Therefore, NPMHR believes that the suppression of the rights of the Naga people will only weaken India's own democratic framework. The essence of Naga society culturally, socially, economically, politically and

           

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educationally is being systematically destroyed and undermined through the policy of militarization and co-optation by the Indian State.

 

In the midst of human suffering and oppression Naga Men and women of Faith have stood out to take the initiative and work towards radical transformation and to act as the instrument of peace in building the Naga Nation based on the democratic values of freedom, justice and peace. The Naga women have been trying to develop and strengthen this thinking at different levels; for instance Naga Mothers Association with their slogan " Shed No More Tears", Naga Women Union in Manipur, Watsurogo Mungdang, Tangkul Shinai Long, etc. are the light of these experiences.

 

Realizing that human kind has made history through the struggle for freedom from exploitation and subjugation, the Naga Peoples Movement for Human Rights (NMHR) has started as a movement for the full realization of the human personality through social transformation. It is to safeguard the basic human and fundamental rights of the Nagas as a people. Hence, the appeal by NMPHR and the people of Nagaland is to understand the historical facts and backgrounds of the Indo-Naga political problem in order to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, misgivings, confrontations and self-destruction without knowing the real historical situation.

 

Burma  Solidarity

 

By the year 2002, Burma will have suffered more than fifty years of armed conflicts and nearly forty years of one-party military rule. Despite growing international awareness of human rights abuses throughout the country, the resolution of Burma's conflicts and the strengthening of it's democratic civil society will be a long term struggle. This struggle must be nurtured and led by the people of Burma themselves as international support for political change alone will not help address the social and cultural aspects of the conflict.

 

The Civil War in Burma is caused by a sense of chauvinism that can be found in all levels of society and among all groups. Chauvinism is an attitude or belief that an individual or specific group has the right to dominate another individual or group with the purpose of dividing the people, fermenting discrimination and mistrust and preventing the their solidarity. This chauvinism feeds the forces of militarism and perpetuates violence in all areas of society including ethnic, religion and gender.

 

As a result of this Civil War, the lives of people are disrupted in all over the country but has had an especially devastating effect on people living in the distant areas along the boarder lines between Burma and its neighbors. These people are isolated from the rest of the country with little or no access to information and have no chance to participate in the political and economic life of the country. They also have little opportunity for education, health care jobs, and adequate food supplies.