Kohima/Imphal on August 14 : The Naga tribals raised the “Naga national flag” and organized a number of activities in Nagaland and in a number of villages in the Naga dominating regions of Manipur on the day of Sunday, to celebrate the “Naga Independence Day”.There were a variety of events held to mark the occasion in various areas of Nagaland as well as organizing small-scale events in numerous villages of the Naga peopled areas of Manipur and Manipur, the Naga flags were lowered in the shops, houses and other establishments.
A large amount of Naga tribals live in several of the hill districts of Manipur and there are Kuki tribals in these hill districts that border Nagaland, Assam, Mizoram and Myanmar.
In Manipur’s Ukhrul district in Manipur, the place of birth of several of the top Naga top leaders of the main rebel group National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) including the General Secretary Thuingaleng Muivah.A statement issued by Muivah stated: “All Nagas unite with one decision to have one faith, one religion, and one political system based on the basis of Nagalim in the name of Christ.”
It was stated that the Nagas have endured 25 years of painful ceasefires and have lived up to “our pledge to find peaceable resolution of the Naga political dispute”.
“We have also waited with patience for seven years since the historic Framework Agreement was signed on August 3 of 2015.We haven’t left a unturned of what is required to reach a compromise that is fair, inclusive and acceptable to both Nagas as well as the Government of India.
Now the ball is in the hands of the Government of India to make the right choice and keep the promises made to the Nagas,” the statement stated.
The NSCN-IM declaration stated that any political movement that does not look at an economic sustainability is a dated policy.
“We should be able to relax in the knowledge that Nagalim is incredibly abundant in terms of God-gifted natural resources as well as human resources.Nagas Nagas have been blessed with physical, mental and spiritual capacity to develop.
“All nations progress by virtue of the principle of self-reliance in every field, whether it be economic, political and military, as well as in the area of education.To build an economically robust nation, it’s crucial that we build an economy that is strong.Therefore, we must be prepared to explore every avenue for the generation of revenue to boost our economy.”
In reference to the emergency National Assembly of the NSCN-IM, which was held on May 31st, the statement stated that the meeting was considered to be one of the pivotal events in the development of the Naga political movement.
“We have made a statement before God and the Naga citizens that NSCN will stand up for and defend the distinctive Naga heritage and the Naga National principle at any cost.The Naga flag and constitution are inseparable elements of the acknowledged sovereignty and history that is unique.We believe that the Indian leaders also understand the significance of it.” the statement read.
The All Naga Students’ Association (ANSA) in a separate statement that refers to the Manipur government announcement said that the general order to hoist the Indian National Flag on the 15th of August was distributed in different departments, including the department of education, whereby “directly and indirectly threatening the rights and feelings of Nagas Nagas and inciting us to do so is a crime”.
It was said that the latest budget statement of the budget allocated of four years shows only 5.7 percent of the total amount in the hills.
“An insult like this should not be celebrated with the raising of Flags during Independence Day rather it amounts to applying salt in the wound.
To avoid confrontation, we are advising departments, in particular the department of education, to not force people to raise flags in our towns,” the ANSA statement stated.
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