GNF accuses Assam Rifles officer of illegal surveillance, demands action

DIMAPUR — The Global Naga Forum (GNF) has lodged a complaint with the Inspector General of Assam Rifles (N) Major General Manish Kumar alleging that an Assam Rifles officer unlawfully infiltrated and monitored their private WhatsApp group for over five months.

In an open letter to the IGAR (N), the forum accused one Major Narendra, stationed at Avangkhu in Nagaland, of coercing a GNF member into adding him to the group. According to the complaint, Major Narendra confiscated the member’s phone at a border crossing and threatened to deny him entry into Nagaland unless he complied.

“Major Narendra clandestinely embedded himself into the GNF forum and surreptitiously monitored our conversations and gathered internal information for over five months, until we recently discovered his presence and deleted him from the group”, the letter read.

The GNF described itself as a community of “Nagas from across the states and borders of the Naga homeland,” dedicated to promoting peace and unity amongst the Naga people and opposing human rights violations against all people, starting with those committed against the Nagas in the region and elsewhere.

“So the question we’ve been asking ourselves—and we hope responsible Indian Army Generals of your high standing will also seriously ponder with us, is: If a Naga community dedicated to peace and advocacy of human and civil rights prompts members of the Indian armed forces to violate the group’s constitutional rights of the freedom of speech, privacy, and freedom to engage in cultural, social, and democratic activities, what kind of country does that make India?” it read.

Furthermore, the GNF pointed to the historical context of India’s presence in the Naga homeland, stating that “since the surreptitious and oppressive role Major Narendra played was aimed at a Naga community, the inevitable question is: What have India’s military invasion of the Nagas in the mid-1950s and the imposition thereafter of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), from 1958 to today, done to the Nagas as a people?”

It went on to question the impact of this militarisation on both the Naga people and the Indian armed forces, asking: “And what has the unending militarisation of the Naga homeland done to the humanity of generations of good men and women of the Indian armed forces including the Assam Rifles?

“What about India’s reputation in the world? Or more importantly, what kind of civilisation has modern India nurtured and promoted since its independence from Britain in areas like the Naga homeland, the Northeast, and Kashmir?” it posed.

The GNF asserted that Major Narendra’s act of forced inclusion and surveillance is a “flagrant violation” of their constitutional rights to free speech and privacy, as well as a violation of UNDRIP particularly Article 36, which affirms the right of Indigenous Peoples to maintain and develop contacts, relations, and cooperation, including the right to move freely across borders, within their own traditionally occupied territories.

“There’s no legal justification for this in a democratic and civilised society. We take grave offence at his brazen infringement on our basic rights,” it said, adding that “Major Narendra’s egregious intrusion on the GNF occurred without the slightest legal justification—no warrant, no judicial oversight, no legitimate basis in law.”

“Moreover, these acts contravene India’s international obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), particularly Article 17, which explicitly protects individuals from arbitrary interference with their privacy. India’s standing in the global community is tarnished when institutions like the Assam Rifles not only flout domestic laws but blatantly ignore the country’s international legal commitments,” it added.

The GNF demanded the IGAR (N) to clarify under what legal authority Major Narendra had infiltrated their private forum and monitored their conversations.

“What legal rationale allowed him and Assam Rifles to violate the constitutional rights of Naga citizens for over five months without any legal sanction or due process? What immediate punitive measures will be taken against Maj. Narendra – and any other personnel complicit in these violations? How is he or they going to be held accountable under the law?” it asked, asserting that the forum seeks “not merely reassurances, but concrete, transparent actions.”

It further urged the Assam Rifles to “establish clear guidelines to protect citizens’ fundamental rights from being violated under the guise of national security.”