Lahe, July 23: The Naga Students’ Organisation (NSO), Lahe town, has issued a scathing condemnation of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) for what it described as continued aggression and hostility against the Naga people in the Naga Self-Administered Zone (NSAZ).
In a letter released on Tuesday, the NSO warned the KIA and the Kachin community that any further provocations would be considered a deliberate escalation of conflict, and that the Kachins would be held fully responsible for any resulting unrest. Citing decades of historical brotherhood between the Naga and Kachin communities, the NSO expressed deep disappointment at the erosion of mutual respect following Myanmar’s 2021 military coup.
The organisation raised serious concerns over repeated incidents of harassment, illegal detention, and abduction of Naga civilians—especially youth—travelling to Kachin state for education, work, or trade. It alleged that hundreds of Naga youths were being forcibly conscripted by KIA forces, with some disappearing and others feared to be used as human shields in armed conflicts.
Despite what it described as “grave provocations,” the NSO asserted that the Naga people had exercised restraint, opting for peace and dialogue. The group recalled a failed attempt to open dialogue with KIA leadership in June 2024, when a delegation was blocked from reaching the group’s headquarters. A subsequent discussion with lower-ranking KIA officers reportedly failed to produce any resolution.
The situation further deteriorated on July 18, 2025, when KIA forces launched what the NSO described as a “heavily armed and calculated operation” at Chanra Gate in the Naga ancestral region, capturing 16 Naga Army personnel along with their weapons. Calling the act a shocking betrayal, the NSO questioned whether the Kachins had effectively declared war on the Naga people.
The organisation demanded the immediate and unconditional release of the detained personnel and the return of all seized arms. It warned that continued KIA hostility would be taken as a deliberate act of war and that peace could not be maintained at the expense of Naga dignity, freedom, or sovereignty.
Declaring that the patience of the Naga people was nearing its limit, the NSO affirmed that the community would respond “not in weakness, but in righteous defence” if provoked further.
“We still hope the Kachin leadership will correct its course. But peace will not come at the cost of our people’s blood or betrayal of our cause,” the NSO’s statement concluded.
The developments mark a worrying deterioration in relations between two ethnic groups that have historically shared common ground in their struggles for autonomy within Myanmar.
