The Naga Students’ Organisation has said that any attempt by the Governments of India or Naypyidaw “to control the free movement of the Naga people within their homeland will face fierce opposition and robust retaliation”.

In a press release issued on 3 February 2023, NSO President Naogang Ngansa and General Secretary P Mankai stated that Naga people staunchly assert their inherent right to move freely across their fields, farmlands, and villages without the imposition of passports or visas, it added.

The organisation maintained that the “imaginary border” drawn in 1953 “remains unrecognized and illegal to the Naga people, as well as the global community” and asserted that the Naga people’s fight for self-determination is resolute, unwavering, and will persist until the People’s aspirations are realized. It further said that it firmly believes that India, being a signatory to the Universal Human Rights Law, should reconsider its actions and allow the Naga people the freedom to make choices and live unencumbered, it added.

Through the press communique, NSO also condemned the statements made by Nagaland Advisor Imkong L Imchen and Minister Temjen Imna Along regarding the removal of FMR along the Indo-Myanmar border and sought clarification on these matters.

“The Nagas under Myanmar-occupied Nagaland view themselves as victims of the Naga National cause, and any such statements from people’s representatives are deemed deeply shocking and intolerable,” NSO stated.

Furthermore, the Naga Students’ Organisation, while supporting other Naga organisations in condemning Delhi’s decisions, called on other civil organisations and leaders, especially from the State of Nagaland, “to unite and oppose any laws that threaten the rights of the Naga people.”

NSO also reaffirmed its “unwavering commitment to the promotion of their cultural identity, territorial integrity, and the pursuit of peace within the Naga Homeland” as resolved in the meeting at Lahe on 2nd February 2024.

Read more: Naga civil bodies in Myanmar condemn GoI’s proposed FMR, border fencing