Guwahati : The United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I) and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN/GPRN-Yung Aung faction) have issued a joint statement urging people across the Northeast to boycott India’s Independence Day celebrations on August 15.

The appeal targets the region they refer to as WESEA, encompassing parts of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, and Nagaland. In the statement released on Saturday, the two insurgent outfits dismissed Independence Day as a “so-called celebration of freedom” that they claim holds no relevance for the people of the region.

They argued that “freedom cannot exist on an oppressed land,” accusing Indian forces of imposing state control through decades of violence and repression. The groups condemned the Indian state for what they described as relentless military operations and claimed that security forces continue to act with impunity, inflicting hardship on indigenous communities.

They framed their armed struggle as legitimate self-defense, rejecting the Indian government’s branding of their actions as terrorism.Reaffirming their commitment to their cause, both ULFA-I and NSCN-YA declared that they would never abandon their fight for independence.

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 concluded.

The call for a boycott reflects the long-standing tensions between separatist groups and the Indian state in parts of the Northeast, where issues of identity, autonomy, and historical grievances continue to fuel political unrest.

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