Naga Youth Organization(NYO)

Introduction
In the backdrop of human rights violations, forced labor, forced dislocation, forced conscription and forced conversions perpetrated by the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) forces against the Nagas in the Sagaing Division, youths collectively came together to raise these concern and formed the Naga Youth Organization (NYO) on 2nd October 2002 in New Delhi. The NYO initially was formed under the auspices of Naga National League for Democracy (NNLD) the sole Naga political organization which is actively working from locations in India fro the restoration of Democracy in Burma. However the NYO is purely a non-political entity but a youth organization. The NYO is formed also to highlight and generate interaction amongst the Naga youths. We also look forward to make our voices heard as well as strengthen solidarity among the various ethnic nationalities that are working for the estoration of democracy in Burma {Myanmar}. We believe that only when a treaty of democratic transition takes place in Burma, the rights of the minority ethnic groups will be safeguarded under just democratic Laws. Therefore, with strong faith in democracy and its principles we pledged to work for the fulfillment of a future democratic Burma. Brief Background of the Nagas The Nagas are a peace – loving indigenous people, a powerful race , belonging to the SinoMongolian family making up the population tapestry of South-East Asian hills people. Lingusitically, they have mutually un-intelligible dialects from tribe-to tribe, though all are derivations from the Tibeto-Buman group. Each Naga villages were an independent nation state before the advent of the British colonialist. The Naga inhibited areas was divided into two parts by the British during the period between 1935 and 1945. One-third of the Naga terriotyry was placed under the Burmese administration. Two thirds of the Naga areas were gven to Government of India.
The Nagas occupy a mountainous territory of 1, 000,000 sq.km in size. The religions interactions of Nagas with Christianity are an important factor in producing cultural configuration and political consciousness. In 1830s the British invited the first US Baptist Missionaries into the Naga areas. It is speculated that the British wanted to consolidate its rule and legitimize its presence in the Naga areas. However, finding the missionaries encouraging the Nagas to uphold the principle of equality the British out rightly changed their policies towards the Nagas. Today, the Nagas are about 5 millions people and more than 40 tribes living under two different administrative units – ie. India and Burma.
Other than the present Nagaland state in India, Nagas inhabit the Naga Hills of Manipur (district of Senapati, Tamenglong, Ukhrul and Chandel), in the North Cachar, Mikhir Hills, Lakhimpur, Nagaon and Sibsagar districts of Assam, in the North-Eastof Arunachal Pradesh, and in the Naga Hills which are now divided into five townshipsin the north of Sagaing Division by the Burmese government for conveniences of administration. The five townships are:
(1) Homalin township
(2) Namyun to township
(3) Lahe township
(4) Layshit township
(5) Hkamti township

Aims and Objectives
1. To represent the voices of the Naga Youth presently living in Burma.
2. To strive for cultural, economic, environmental and political justice of the Nagas.
3. To seek for a democratic and just solution to the Naga Political process.
4. To promote self-reliance and self-assertion as the working principle of the Naga Youth.
5. To struggle for basic human rights as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
6. To support all democratic movements around Burma in particular and the world in general.
7. To express and encourage solidarity among all struggling peoples in Burma.

Our Activities
Since its inception, the NYOU has participated in various conferences and training such
as:
- Foreign Affairs Training (December 2002-January 2004).
- World Social Forum (17th – 21st December 2003).
- Advanced English Speaking course (October- December 2003).
- Burma IT ( November 2003- January 2004).
- Workshop on “Structural Analysis Natural Resource Management”(Feb-2004).
- Web-designing Computer course (February-May 2004).

Our contact address is :
Naga Youth Organization JG-III, Third Floor,
Vikaspuri,
New Delhi- 110018.
INDIA E-mail: nagayouth@yahoo.co.in
Tel: 91-9891484537