The Rising People’s Party (RPP) has said that Myanmar’s military junta has already taken census of men and women in Naga Self-Administered Zone and other Naga inhabited areas, and that forced conscription is only a matter of time. It also stated that the Nagas in Myanmar are in a dire situation and stressed that it is imperative for Naga civil society organisations and armed groups to formulate a national vision for them.

Referring to the NSCN-K (Yung Aung)’s ‘Emergency National Information’ issued on 21 March 2024 where it expressed its concerns over the mandatory conscription, RPP claimed that “few NSCN factions in Burma and Nagaland have a tacit understanding with the military Junta.”

Read more: NSCN YA rejects Myanmar military junta’s compulsory conscription law

“At a time when the entire ethnic peoples including the majority Burmans are with the Pro-Democracy Forces (PDF) fighting the Junta, the Nagas in Burma have lost their national vision,” the Party said, accusing the Naga armed factions in Burma of siding with the military government.

“The danger with this short-sighted approach is that when the PDF eventually wins the civil war in Burma, the Nagas with their zero contribution – or rather anti PDF stand – will be inevitably sidelined or marginalized when the future federal structure of Burma eventually materializes,” RPP added.

In this regard, RPP questioned all the 24 NPGs in Nagaland about their policy for the Nagas in Myanmar who are “possibly facing the worst times akin to what Nagas in India faced during the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s.”

“When the Burmese Nagas have already sacrificed so much for the Naga national struggle, what is the stand of the 24 NPGs regarding these people? Should the national struggle be reduced to taxing the common man in Nagaland to the point of exhaustion, or should the NPGs do something concrete for the aspirations of a forgotten people during their time of existential crisis?” RPP questioned.