NSF to its units: Don't cooperate with forces until AFSPA repealed

Dimapur: The Naga Students' Federation (NSF) on Monday asked its federating units and subordinate bodies to strictly enforce its standing policy of total non-cooperation with the Indian armed forces until the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) is repealed in toto from the Naga homeland.

Condemning the extension of the act in various districts and police station jurisdictions across the Naga homeland for another six months with effect from April 1, the federation also urged every Naga student body to abstain from participating in any joint programmes, civic action initiatives, or ceremonial events involving the armed forces personnel.

"Compliance with this policy is not just a protest, but a moral and political obligation to uphold the rights and future of our people," NSF president Medovi Rhi and assistant general secretary Kenilo Kent said in a release.

The NSF said the continued designation of "our ancestral land" as a "disturbed area" under the AFSPA was a blatant affront to the dignity, rights and democratic aspirations of the Naga people.

"Its extension, in this day and age, is not only an insult to the ongoing Indo-Naga political dialogue but also a deliberate provocation against our people's collective call for peace and justice," the federation said, viewing this extension as an unjust and regressive move that disregards the realities on the ground.

Stating that even though the Naga people have, time and again, demonstrated their desire for peace and political resolution through dialogue and non-violence, the NSF said the Govt of India continued to militarise "our land" and impose colonial-era laws that empower security forces with impunity to commit atrocities without accountability.

The NSF reiterated its longstanding demand for the immediate and complete repeal of AFSPA from the Naga homeland, affirming that no true peace can prevail where laws of occupation and militarisation continue to exist.