Several tribal women organisations of the Northeast India have come together under one umbrella christened as Indigenous Women's Forum of North East India ( IWFNEI ) in an aim to protect and promote the rights of tribal people of the NE India.

The newly formed IWFNEI, which comprises of Assam's Boro Women's Justice Forum (BWJF), Nagaland's Naga Mother's Association (NMA), Naga Women's Union, Manipur (NWUM), Manipur's Hmar Women's Association (HWA), Arunachal Pradesh's R. K. Mosang Memorial Society, Tripura's Borok Women's Forum of Twipra, Tripura's Tripura Hill Women's Society, Dimasa Women's Society, Manipur's Zomi Mother's Association, Assam's All Tiwa Women's Association and Rabha Women Council, also aims at permanent peace and development in the region for which "militarisation" should be stopped.

IWFNEI held a training of Trainers for Indigenous Tribal Women of North East India at Guwahati during November 10-15 which was attended by Ammie Lalnunpuii, sent by Aizawl-based Human Rights & Law Network, from Mizoram. Sadly, no women's group from Mizoram has joined the new Northeast women's forum. IWFNEI emphasised that sustainable peace and development would never be achieved under the muzzle of a gun, and strongly denounced the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) being imposed in some states of the North East India.

"We demand the immediate repeal of  the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and instead ensure the the country's obligations under international human rights laws i.e the CEDAW, CAT, ICCPR, ICESCR, ICERD and the CRC, are met. The gross violations of the human and collective rights of the tribal and indigenous peoples in the North East should be investigated and justice given," it said.

IWFNEI is of the opinion that militarisation sanctioned by the AFSPA has effected gross and unconscionable violations of their fundamental rights and freedoms as human beings, tribals and indigenous peoples and gravely impacted on their physical, social and cultural integrity and dignity.

IWFNEI is also against development projects and processes which "raped our lands and resources threatening our lives and to the fundamental right to live our lives with dignity." With this view, the forum demanded a stop to the Tipaimukh Dam project and other "aggressive projects that divest us of our human and collective rights in the name of development."

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