Guwahati: Northeast rebel outfits United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA-Independent) and the Yung Aung-led NSCN (K) have jointly called for a boycott of the upcoming Independence Day celebrations.
The outfits called for a "total shutdown of all commercial activities, administrative services and educational institutions" between 12 midnight to 6 pm on 15 August 2020 "except for most essential and emergency services.
"Kautilya political machinations" have been used to rob the Sovereignty of the Punjab, Kashmir, Sikkim and similar scheming is on the anvil of the colonial Indian deep State for Bhutan and Nepal, the insurgent groups claimed in the statement.
"This time while COVID -19 calamity was unfolding, colonial India makes the same mistake and send her soldiers in May 2020 to move into Chinese territory with another apparent forward push policy resulting in a hand to hand combat between the soldiers of the two countries", the statement said, criticizing India for taking on the Chinese at the Galwan Valley that resulted in the deaths of at least 20 Indian army troopers.
The NSCN (K) and ULFA in the joint statement further claimed that 1962 "colonial India being cut to size was not complete because US President Kennedy came to India's rescue."
"We should recall here the ideals of freedom envisioned by US President Roosevelt, Actually he was instrumental to persuade Britain to give India her Independence.
The joint statement said that the region should be known as Western South East Asia (WeSEA), unitedly resolute in "fulfilling our birthrights and restore our ancestral Nationhood outside the political entity."
Terming the Indian Independence day as "not a day of freedom of our people but of bondage", the two insurgent bodies called on the people not to take part in celebrating it voluntarily or under duress.