National Socialist Council of Nagaland

National Socialist Council of Nagaland
Founder	Isak Chisi Swu, Thuingaleng Muivah, S.S. Khaplang.
Founded	31 January 1980
Membership	~4,500 fighters website = [1]
Ideology	Naga nationalism Maoism Christian Communism
International affiliation	Operations in India

The Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) is a Naga nationalist militant group operating in Northeast India. Its aim is to establish a sovereign state, "Nagalim" in the areas inhabited by the Naga people in Northeast India and Burma.

Formation

The National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) was formed on January 31, 1980 by Isak Chisi Swu, Thuingaleng Muivah and S.S. Khaplang opposing the Shillong Accord signed by the then Naga National Council (NNC) with the Government of India. Later, differences surfaced within the outfit over the issue of commencing a dialogue process with the Indian Government and on April 30, 1988, the NSCN split into two fractions, namely the NSCN-K led by S S Khaplang, and the NSCN-IM, led by Isak Chisi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah.

Objective

The objective of NSCN is to establish a Sovereign State consisting of all the Naga-inhabited areas known as Nagalim. Unification of different Naga tribes under its banner and representing the wish and aspiration of the Naga is its main mission.

Area of operation

NSCN is active in North East India. The state of Nagaland and Manipur is the main areas of influence of NSCN. However, its presence in the neighbouring state of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh is widely acknowledged. The presence of NSCN in the Northern parts of Myanmar which is inhabited by the Naga dates back to its formation.

Leadership and structure

Thuingaleng Muivah and Isak Swu, the founding father of NSCN-IM, is General Secretary and Chairman of NSCN-IM respectively where SS Khaplang,the founder of NSCN-K is the chairman of its organization.

On the political front, the [NSCN-IM] has divided its area of influence into 11 regions, which are organised primarily on tribal considerations. In many areas, it runs a parallel government. There are four major ‘Ministries’ – defence, home, finance and foreign. Besides, there are five other Ministries including education, information and publicity, forests and minerals, law and justice and religious affairs. The most prominent among the Ministries is the ‘Home ministry’, which seeks to replace the State government machinery. The heads of 11 administrative regions report to the ‘Home Minister’ (Kilo Kilonser). The ‘administration’ deepens down to the town and village levels in the NSCN-IM’s areas of influence.

The outfit has also established a government-in-exile called the Government of the People’s Republic of Nagaland (GPRN) which interacts with formal and non-formal world bodies and media. The GPRN sends emissaries abroad to garner support and raise funds for the Naga cause.

Linkages

Over the years, the NSCN-IM has tried to develop extensive linkages both within India and outside. It is alleged that Pakistan and China are providing finance as well as arm and ammunition to NSCN in their fight against India.

It is believed that NSCN has provided training and other combat warfare and intelligent training to smaller outfits operating in North East India.

The outfit has also opened up contacts with international organisations like the UN Human Rights Organisation in Geneva, Unrepresented Nations People's Organisation (UNPO) at the Hague and the UN Working Group on Indigenous People (UNWGIP).

A brief history of Naga insurgency

The word "Naga" denotes a conglomeration of ethnic tribes living on the Himalayan Range in North East India. Angami, Ao, Chakesang, Konyak, Kyong, Poumai, Rengma, Sumi, Mao, Tangkhul, Sangtam, Poumai, Zeliangrong, Phom, Nocte, Maring, etc. are some important tribes of Naga. It is not to be confused with the Hindu Naga (Sadhus).

The origins of Naga Struggle can be traced back to the founding of the Naga Club, in Kohima in 1918 by a group of educated Nagas. They submitted a memorandum to the Simon Commission to exclude the Nagas from any constitutional framework of India. With the coming of Angami Zapu Phizo, popularly known as Phizo, naga movement gained momentum in the late 1940s.

Phizo along with some other prominent leaders fought on the side of the Indian National Army (of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose) for Japan against Allied Force with the hope of getting freedom. The Naga Club transformed into the Nagaland National Council (NNC) in 1946, the precursor of the NSCN to voice for naga freedom. Disappointed by the policy frameworks of the Indian Nation Congress, they went underground and started engaging in guerrilla warfare against Indian Security Force.

The NNC under Phizo's instigation declared Nagaland Independence on the 14th of August 1947. It was greeted with great euphoria which echoed all over the hills. Phizo was arrested in 1948 by the Indian Government on the charges of instigating a rebellion. On his release, Phizo was made the president of the NNC in 1950. In 1952, he met Jawahar Lal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India to chalk out pathway for Naga's Independence but it was clogged with many incompatible issues from both the sides.

The Indian army marched to quell the rebellion, but Phizo escaped to East Pakistan and from there to London, where he remained till his death in 1990. But the armed rebellion was pursued by a section of the NNC. An agreement was reached by the Indian Government and the NNC in the year 1975. This came to be known as the Shillong Accord. However, disagreement among the NNC cropped up which led to the formation of the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland or the NSCN in the late 1970s under the leadership of Isaac Chishi Swu, Thuingaleng Muivah and Khaplang. It started an underground Naga Federal government having both Civil and Military wings. It again split into two factions in the late 1980s: the NSCN(IM) and the NSCN (Khaplang). The former is led by Isaac Chishi Swu and T Muivah, while the latter was led by Khaplang

See also

• Naga nationalism
• Insurgent in NE India

External links

• [2] National Socialist Council of Nagaland - Isak-Muivah
• Northeast Echoes by Patricia Mukhim, Telegraph India, June 22, 2009