The Indian armed forces personnel (Assam Rifles/AR in particular) are deliberately violating the Cease Fire Ground Rules (CFGRs) agreed between the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN) and Government of India (GoI) not to set up any camp at the Dimapur-Hebron road. It has been almost two years since the AR personnel began stationing at Doyapur which is situated on the way to the NSCN’s Council Headquarters (CHq), Hebron.
The AR personnel under the direction of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), GoI has deliberately set up an outpost at Doyapur without any regard to the prior agreement and has been keeping a sharp eye on NSCN members going in and out of Hebron. The AR personnel armed with guns and registry and assisted by the installed CCTV cameras and smart-phones fitted on their chests stops and checks every passing vehicle. Such a deliberate act of harassment meted to commuters in the name of “law and order” is a willful act of invasion and intrusion of privacy upon individuals and organizations despite no law and order problem in the area. The NSCN and the civil society organizations (CSOs) are keenly observing the excesses of the Indian security forces as the whole stretch of Dimapur-Hebron is absolutely peaceful and it only creates unwanted hurdles for the peace loving citizens while trying to harass and wage psychological wars upon NSCN by the GoI sponsored AR. Such acts of the AR are completely adverse to the peace initiatives of the GoI and NSCN.
The AR has become bolder since 2020 and has intensified the harassment upon commuters with much vigour. The AR personnel at Doyapur apply five different levels of harassment upon commuters in their attempt to extract information about the movements and identities of NSCN members and well-wishers. Their first level during the initial days of setting up the outpost was simply to note down the numbers of every passing vehicle. The second level went up a few steps by asking commuters where they come from, where they are going and what their professions are. Upon further upgrade to the third level of harassment, the AR personnel ask the commuters their names, surnames/titles, tribes and even phone numbers. After going through each and every mandatory first, second and third levels of harassment, they started going to the extent of detaining commuters they chose for a longer period of time to applythe forth level of harassment. The fourth level consists of stopping and checking one’s handbag/rucksack all of sudden whether one is on an auto rickshaw, a bike, a car or a passenger bus. At times, while stopping the bus they would go over to check passengers randomly and tell any passenger to come down for ‘question and answer’ on different pretext. The fifth level comes when one travels alone in the evening or at night. That is when they frisk you and search your vehicle in the absence of any witness or companion.
Besides all these, the AR personnel are checking and frisking commuters without following Covid-19 safety measures/SOPs despite the fact that the AR personnel have the highest Covid-19 infection cases last year which is very alarming. It is foolhardy of the AR to play with the lives of commuters as the AR jawans continues with their checking in the name of doing their duties.
This is how the AR tries to instil fear psychosis to the inhabitants and commuters and make the commuters submit to their diktats. The AR intent to keep the encyclopaedia of the areas at their fingertips by deploying various and means and ways to counter and undermine further influence of NSCN as seen in the alarmed behaviour of the AR, NIA and MHA. We see no logic in setting up an outpost of the AR at Doyapur to harass the commuters while the Indo-Naga peace process is going on.
The NSCN does not hesitate to state that all the raids against the NSCN members and establishments are done under the directions of the MHA. We call upon the GoI to ensure that every clause of the Peace Agreement be respected by curtailing the disruptive activities of the AR against the common people in general and the NSCN in particular as the present activities of the AR in checking the commuters round the clock at Doyapur is completely against the ongoing and longest peaceful Political Negotiation.
The setting up of the AR outpost at Dimapur-Hebron road is a blatant violation of the agreement and the NSCN strongly objects to the provocative activities of the AR personnel at Doyapur main road and reminds the GoI for its withdrawal in the larger interest of the Indo-Naga peace process.
(Press Statement by MIP, NSCN/GPRN)
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