The Naga insurgent group NSCN-IM detained one of its own cadre in Nagaland for carrying the national flag. A Naga youth from Manipur was brutally beaten up by NSCN-IM cadre for initiating a peace march by carrying the National Flag of India.
According to the reports, YS Mashungmi, a young Tangkhul Naga from Ukhrul district of Manipur and also a cadre of NSCN-IM, was allegedly detained and tortured by the Naga insurgents after he carried out a ‘peace march’ in Dimapur in Nagaland on December 8.
In a statement, the Naga insurgent group said the daring venture by Mashungmi, no matter how patriotic it may appear in the eyes of the beholder, amounted to violation of disciplinary code of conduct. “Security implications were also taken into account to abort his peace march midway. Mashungmi is being debriefed to establish the idea behind his peace march,” the statement said.
YS Mashungmi, a Naga Youth who desires peace & who feels pride in his Indian identity was illegally captured & tortured by NSCN(IM).
— Abiema Lisham (@AbiemaLisham) December 18, 2020
Is this what NSCN(IM) calls Naga freedom?
Why are they creating a false narrative that Nagas abhor their Indian identity? pic.twitter.com/fbarWUENnH
Reportedly, Mashungmi had begun a ‘peace march’ on December 8 from Dimapur and intended to travel throughout Nagaland carrying a local flag and the Indian national flag to spread the message of peace, brotherhood, reconciliation and unity.
He had also recently walked 70 km from Nagaland’s commercial town of Dimapur to state capital Kohima for “spreading the message of peace”.
However, during his peace march, some NSCN-IM cadres caught him in Kohima and forcibly detained him to their headquarters at Hebron, about 35 km southwest of Dimapur. The officials said the insurgent group has charged him for carrying out “anti-national activities”. It is not yet clear whether Mashungmi is released or still in the Naga custody.
Naga insurgency and their demand for separate homeland ‘Nagalim’
The Naga-Maoist militant group National Socialist Council of Nagaland, has been waging a bloody insurgent war for a separate homeland ‘Nagalim’ since India’s independence. Over years, the Naga insurgence has weakened and integration of the Naga people into India has been largely successful. However, a few factions of NSCN, especially led by Isak Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah faction has carried out low-level insurgency against the state demanding ‘Nagalim’.
Nagalim, a long-pending demand of the NSCN-IM for a separate Naga state, encompasses the Naga-inhabited areas of Myanmar as well as parts of the northeastern states bordering Nagaland.
The outfit has held a huge number of rounds of negotiations with the Central government in Delhi ever since it signed a ceasefire pact in August 1997. The Central government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had signed a “framework agreement” with the NSCN-IM in 2015.
Even though most of the demands made by Nagas have been resolved during the talks wth the centre, some outstanding differences yet remain, especially Nagas demand over a separate flag and a separate constitution. The government of India has categorically rejected the demands of separation flag and constitution.