NSCN-IM accuses Nagaland Governor

Newmai News Network
DIMAPUR, Jun 23: NSCN-IM has accused the Governor of Nagaland saying that the latter is trying to criminalise the Naga political movement. “It is highly unbecoming of the Governor of Nagaland trying to criminalize the Naga political movement by questioning the taxation right of the NSCN,” said NSCN-IM in a statement on Wednesday. “Surprisingly, this comes after more than 23 years of Indo-Naga political dialogue,” it further said. Placed under this situation, NSCN-IM “puts on record” to go back to the history to point out that taxation is something which is deeply rooted in the history of the Naga resistance movement even before the Naga National Council (NNC) came into the scene. “Now the focus has been shifted to National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN) which is at the helm of affairs leading the Naga political struggle,” NSCN-IM said. It added that, as brought about by the 23 years of Indo-Naga political talks, the Nagas’ stand for sovereign existence is before the world domain and not a question of obscurity.
NSCN-IM said that it has become pertinent to mention the background of Naga history to drive home the point that tax collection was the inherent part of the Nagas way of political existence as sovereign people since time immemorial in order to manage its own affairs. NSCN-IM claimed that it collected taxes to support the Naga people’s political movement which started in 1929 even before India got independence from the British. It added that opposing the Naga tax is nothing short of obstructing the Naga political movement and to let the Naga people to be “enslaved by India”.
Taxation was there during the Naga National Council (NNC) time and now under National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN) which has taken over to spearhead the Naga political movement, it added. “NSCN is a genuine political group and a Government of the people with total commitment to find an honorable political settlement and it should not be treated at par with other outfits that have different objectives that are not going to benefit the Nagas in the final moment but only for temporary benefits,” it added. “It may be noted that NSCN is not working for packages from the Government of India but for an honorable and acceptable political settlement with India and the nominal taxations will continue as it is,” the statement further said. NSCN-IM said that the irony is that while other outfits are taxing the people they work as the agents of adversaries. “Naga are thus, made to suffer by the Government of India under the garb of Naga Political Groups (NPGs),” it added.
"As per the Framework Agreement", said the NSCN-IM statement, "the Nagas are the masters of their own lands both below and above". “So, why should India interfere in the internal matter of the sovereign Naga people?,” it asked, while adding, “The Government of India opposing taxations by the NSCN instantly violates the Framework Agreement wherein the two entities have agreed to coexist peacefully as two different entities sharing sovereign power”.
Moreover, NSCN-IM said that taxation is the legitimate right of every Government of a nation state. It also said that the Nagas declared their independence status as a sovereign nation one day ahead of India and defended its sovereign right thus far. NSCN-IM also said that the “Naga nation” does not require permission from the Government of India for taxation. It further said that the matter remains loud and clear that at no point of time the Nagas became Indians either by conquest or consent. “Thus, it is too farfetched for the Governor of Nagaland state to issue such an outrageous statement on taxation,” it also said. NSCN-IM further said that the Naga political movement has not started yesterday necessitating the unwarranted statement on taxation issue, which is the birth right of the sovereign Naga people. “It is worth mentioning that during the course of Indo-Naga political talks, passing through the hands of  three interlocutor-ships, this taxation right was acknowledged indicating that NSCN have the right to tax to carry on its movement and no fuss was made out of it,” NSCN-IM added.
It then said that the press statement issued by the Governor’s office contradicted this stand which “violates the spirit of the hard earned Indo-Naga talks crossing more than 23 years”.
NSCN-IM said that following the signing of the Framework Agreement of August 3, 2015, this taxation was included in the competencies. It further said that no one can deny these factual records of the Framework Agreement and the competencies. “No wonder, the Framework Agreement mentioned of the sharing of sovereign power and declared that according to the universal principle in democracy sovereignty lies with the people,” it added.
The outfit said, “Certainly, it has become a serious matter of indignation on the statement of taxation that is so exasperating, inconsistent and banal that it speaks of the worst kind of undermining the Naga political issue”.
 It also said that it has to be taken note that the sovereign rights of the Naga people to tax cannot be denied. “Moreover, the Indo-Naga political talk is yet to be finalized as critical issues are waiting to be considered from the perspective of the Framework Agreement,” NSCN-IM added.