The NSCN(IM) on Saturday said the Indian armed forces, particularly Assam Rifles, are “deliberately violating” the ceasefire ground rules, agreed between NSCN and Indian government, not to set up any camp at the Dimapur-Hebron road.
NSCN(IM) asked the Centre to withdraw to the Assam Rifles camp in the larger interest of the Indo-Naga peace process.
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“It has been almost two years since the Assam Rifles personnel began stationing at Doyapur which is situated on the way to the NSCN’s Council Headquarters (CHq), Hebron,” the outfit said in a statement.
Also read: Nagaland: Police raid unauthorised office facility of NSCN (I-M) in Dimapur
The outfit said the Assam Rifles personnel under the direction of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) have “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.
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“The Assam Rifles 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,” NCN(IM) alleged.
Such a deliberate act of harassment meted to commuters in the name of “law and order” is a wilful act of invasion and intrusion of privacy upon individuals and organizations despite no law and order problem in the area, the outfit said.
The setting up of the AR outpost at Dimapur-Hebron road is a blatant violation of the agreement & NSCN strongly objects to the provocative activities of the AR personnel at Doyapur and reminds the GoI for its withdrawal in the larger interest of the Indo-Naga peace process.
— MIP, NSCN/GPRN (@MIP_GPRN) April 10, 2021
It said 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 Assam Rifles are completely adverse to the peace initiatives of the Government of India and NSCN, it said.
It further said the Assam Rifles has “become bolder since 2020 and has intensified the harassment upon commuters with much vigour”.
The outfit alleged that the Assam Rifles personnel at Doyapur apply five different levels of “harassment upon commuters” 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, it said.
“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 apply the 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,” the outfit alleged.
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 NSCN (IM) claimed.
“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,” the outfit stated.
The outfit also alleged that the Assam Rifles personnel are checking and frisking commuters “without following Covid19 safety measures/SOPs” despite the fact that the AR personnel have the highest Covid19 infection cases last year which is “very alarming”.
The outfit alleged that the Assam Rifles “tries to instil fear psychosis to the inhabitants and commuters and make the commuters submit to their diktats”.
The outfit said it sees “no logic in setting up” an outpost of the Assam Rifles at Doyapur to “harass the commuters while the Indo-Naga peace process is going on”.
The NSCN(IM) said “all the raids against the NSCN members and establishments are done under the directions of the MHA”.
The outfit called upon the central government to ensure that every clause of the Naga peace agreement is respected by “curtailing the disruptive activities of the AR against the common people in general and the NSCN in particular”.
It said the “present activities of the AR in checking the commuters round the clock at Doyapur are 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,” the outfit added.