Headlines       Vol. 1 Issue 34-35

Jan 22-Feb 6 , 1999

'NSCN (IM) tried to kill me' : David Ward David Patrick Ward, joint international coordinator, Naga Vigil Human Rights Group, and a ' friend of the Nagas' has alleged that the NSCN (I-M) wanted to eliminate him. Responding to a press release issued by K. Ngaranmi, deputy secretary, Oking Publicity and Information Services, NSCN (I-M), Mr. Ward alleged that the NSCN (I-M) dispatched its cadres to a third country “to assassinate David Ward”. Had their aim been true and their action sincere he might not been alive today.However all four were captured as a result of their own incompetence, he added. Earlier, in its press release, the NSCN (I-M) had called Mr. Ward an active collaborator of RAW agents attached to the Indian embassies in Europe and elsewhere, and “a person jailed in Britain's HM prison for two years for bank robbery”. It also alleged that Mr. Ward was given twelve-and-a-half million rupees in two installments ( Rs. 75,00,000 and Rs. 50,00,000 respectively) in Kathmandu by India and “her stooges”. Mr. Ward was also warned by the NSCN (I-M) that “he should immediately stop collecting money in Europe and other places in the stolen names of the Naga people”. In his statement, Mr. Ward admitted that he was a former convict, but refuted all other allegations made against him. “As the almighty God is my judge and yours, I have never accepted one paisa from the government of India, let alone the agencies you allege or the fictional figures of Rs. 75 lakh and Rs. 50 lakh," he said. “I have never even once in my life been to the Indian Embassy in London or in any other place in Europe.” Mr. Ward said in the interests of the general Naga public he would like to say that the booklet 'The Speeches of Mr. Isak Chishi Swu, chairman, NSCN (I-M), at London Conference on Indigenous People on July 4, 1993' was a false propaganda by the organisation. He claimed that Mr. Swu never attended the conference and nor was his speech delivered by anyone else. “In fact he has never been to the UK in his life. Still you (NSCN) have produced thousands of booklets and pamphlets,” he added. Throwing light on the divisions among the Nagas, Mr. David said, "Whether I will live or die I have never been a sycophant in my life. You tried to ban me from having contact with Mr. Khaplang or the Naga National Council and that I could not accept. I believe in democracy not dictatorship.

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