Tingplik Express

Press Release
Naga International Support Center
Amsterdam, August 10 2008

Those in Nagaland responsible for committing these Crimes against Humanity must be apprehended; those responsible for harboring the culprits must be held accountable

In sharp contrast to Peoples themselves the Government of India is convinced that the Nagas of the states of Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Manipur are part and parcel of India. With respect to that the Government of India is responsible for upholding justice and peace. Yet, it tolerates designated camps of fighters with which it has agreed to a cease fire and let them operate freely; even if these fighters openly declare war on an entire tribe.

The Khaplang Group served the Tangkhul Tribe with a quit notice and in the wake of that many a Tangkhul and members of other tribes have been mercilessly killed. Because the designated camps of the Khaplang group are protected by Government Forces both the state Governments of the stated mentioned as well as the Central Government of India in Delhi are directly accountable for tolerating these culprits to operate in this despicable manner.

Therefore:

The Naga International Support Center urges the Government of India to drastically change its policies, to severe its ties with those it has protected and to restore law and order in the land of the Nagas.

The Naga International Support Center also calls on the Security Council of the United Nations Organization and stresses imminent intervention is needed. Even though a relatively small conflict this conflict, due to crimes against humanity being committed, will spin out of control with insurmountable repercussions long term psychological as a result. And this with a decade old peace talks aimed at reaching an honorable solution.

When the Government of India does not control the horrific situation Crimes against Humanity will persist and long lasting psychological scars will be the heritage of future generations Nagas; ethnic cleansing and indiscriminate killing are Crimes against Humanity.




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GUWAHATI, Aug 9 – The influx of illegal migrants from Bangladesh poses a grave threat to the indigenous or tribal population of Assam, which actually undermines their cultural and economic identity. However, inflow of non-indigenous people from within the country too could play an equally negative role in damaging the cultural, linguistic and material basis of the indigenous communities. This was a view expressed by Anjali Daimari, the advisor to Indigenous Women’s Forum of North East India (Assam Committee) while addressing a press conference to mark the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People.

“Both the threats have to be recognized because of their ramifications on a number of key areas, including possession of land and property, language and culture, and livelihood options regarding indigenous people…All of these stand to be affected if tribal people have to endure more and more people occupying their areas,” she noted.

Daimari said that a “better mechanism than the one currently in place was required,” if illegal Bangladeshi migrants were to be deported from India. She said that it was up to the Government to identify and expel illegal migrants as the present practice of identification by certain groups could not be expected to continue for long.

On the issue of conversion vis-à-vis the identity of indigenous people, she revealed that it could not be a serious threat, because, “in most cases the tribal way of life continued even if there was a change in religious belief.”

Referring to recent developments in Majuli, she pointed out that even though conversion was taking place in a particular community, it was not members of that community who had spoken against it, but outsiders who had their own reasons for doing so.

She, and the Indigenous Women’s Forum of Northeast India were united in the belief that the fate of indigenous people of Northeast India and the rest of the country depended to a great extent on India accepting and adhering to the term ingenious or tribal.

“The status of indigenous or tribal people would definitely go up if they were recognized in the manner they were in Nepal or Philippines, only two countries of Asia which had such a system,” she mentioned.

Daimari believed, there was a need to identify the real indigenous people, and come up with a strategy in consonance with that of the International Labour Organisation, which had made sustained efforts to protect the interests of indigenous people across the world.

Emphasizing the need to understand the term “indigenous or tribal people”, the Indigenous Women’s Forum of North East India stated that a modern understanding of this term would have to take into account several factors like historical continuity, strong link to territories and natural resources, distinct social, economic or political systems, among others.




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