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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.