Guwahati: The United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I) and National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN/GPRN (Yung Aung faction), and the United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I) have jointly called for a boycott of India’s Independence Day celebrations on August 15 across the northeastern region.
The boycott is being urged across what the groups refer to as WESEA—a region that includes parts of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, and Nagaland.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the two insurgent outfits denounced India’s Independence Day as a “so-called” celebration of freedom, saying it holds no meaning for the people of WESEA.
“Freedom cannot exist on an oppressed land,” the statement read, arguing that the day serves only as a reminder of “the relentless brutality of the Indian occupational forces” and the suffering inflicted on the region’s inhabitants.
Both groups accused Indian security forces of waging war “with impunity” against local communities, and framed the armed resistance of insurgent fighters as self-defense against “cruelty” that the Indian state brands as terrorism.
Despite decades of conflict, the groups vowed that their “resolve is stronger than ever” and that they would “never give up” their struggle for independence.
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They called on the people of WESEA to stay indoors on August 15 as a symbolic act of resistance, describing the proposed shutdown as a “powerful testament” to the region’s collective resilience.
“As India unfurls its colonial flag, let us unfurl the truth by exposing India’s war crimes in our region,” the joint statement said.
