NSCN (IM) claims it 'levies legitimate taxes from the people'

GUWAHATI: The NSCN (IM) on Saturday said that it is neither a gang nor commits extortions but "levies legitimate taxes from the people” which is an “inherent right of any sovereign people."
The group came out with its “The position of NSCN” on Saturday to counter Nagaland governor RN Ravi’s missive to the state government on June 16 that a ‘grim’ law and order situation prevails in the state where “armed gangs” extort and levy taxes on every item.
NSCN (IM) said its practice of collecting taxes “was legitimately acknowledged by the earlier Interlocutors and Indian authorities and it was never an issue.” It added, “NSCN is the recognized and legitimate national organization of the Naga people and not a gang.”
“What is significantly important is the inherent right of any sovereign people and nation to collect taxes from the people and commercial establishments. This is the universal practice as seen all over the world. Taxes have been the sources of sustenance that has brought the Naga political movement this far,” the outfit said.
Obliquely pointing at its rival breakaway groups for the breakdown in the state’s law and order as referred to by the governor it added, “What has complicated the situation as seen today is the madness of ‘extortions’ that are being carried out by some groups in the guise of freedom fighters. NSCN did not and does not commit extortion at any point of time but levies legitimate taxes from the people.”
Ravi in his letter to chief minister Neiphiu Rio conveyed his decision to take over the law and order subject of the state and uphold his constitutional obligation to under Article 371A (1) (b) as he can no longer stand the near-total collapse of the law and order situation in Nagaland in the face of “unrestrained depredations” by over half a dozen “armed gangs” who were “brazenly running their so-called governments” and challenging the legitimacy of the state
Ravi did not identify the gangs but it was clear from the beginning that he was pointing his fingers at the state’s insurgent groups, with whom he has been holding talks as centre’s interlocutor before taking up the gubernatorial responsibilities in the state.
The NSCN (IM) was simply NSCN after its three leaders Isak Chishi Swu, Thuingaleng Muivah and SS Khaplang broke away from Naga National Council in 1980 before it split several times and formed several rival groups, seven to be precise. Barring the NNC, all NSCN factions are currently engaged in peace talks with centre.
It said that after 23 of peace talks the “complexity of the issue delayed the process of finalizing the agreement. Notwithstanding the exasperating time taken to strike the final deal, it was the most peaceful period in the history of Naga political movement spanning over seventy (70) years” but taking advantage of peaceful environment created by the ceasefire, some offshoots have become “commercialized organizations” and “nobody cried foul against such mushrooming of mercenary groups which is the root cause of the problem today that smears the ongoing Indo-Naga political process.”
The outfit reminded that six prime ministers have sat across the table with Naga leaders since the first by Indira Gandhi in 1964 to Narendra Modi in 2015.
In a direct attack against Ravi, the outfit said, “Any Indian Interlocutor who represents the Government of India needs to prove himself as a man who stands committed to solve the longest political conflict in Southeast Asia. But if he finds pleasure to handle the Naga issue as a ‘law and order’ problem he is not the right person to solve the long standing Indo-Naga problem. Such an Indian Interlocutor will rather complicate and prolong the process which is not the desire of both the Indians and the Nagas.”