NSCN-IM In Crisis After Co-founder’s Son Ikato Chishi Swu Crosses Over to Myanmar

Guwahati: In what has been seen as a major setback to the ongoing peace-process in Nagaland, Mr Ikato Chishi Swu, the son of National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah) or NSCN (I-M)’s late founding leader Isak Chishi Swu, has announced that he is joining dissident NSCN (I-M) leaders Lt Gen (retired) Hs Ramsan and Lt Gen Absalom Raman across the border in Myanmar to continue the struggle.

In a hard-hitting statement, Mr Swu accused the current leadership of NSCN-IM of straying from the Naga cause and expressed his disappointment at the way the peace talks have been handled since the NSCN-IM and the Government of India signed their first ceasefire agreement in 1997.

Mr Swu said that the government started backtracking from the Framework Agreement of 2015 after his father’s death, and did not want to solve the issue but only “manage it and maintain the status quo”. It is significant that the late founder leader of NSCN (I-M) was instrumental in signing the Frame Agreement of 2015.

He alleged that during the 28 years of ceasefire, the government had succeeded in corrupting NSCN-IM leaders. These trapped leaders, he said, had begun to compromise the Naga “national interest” and many of them were on the payroll of intelligence agencies. Mr Swu also alleged that positions within the NSCN-IM hierarchy could be purchased by paying huge sums of money.

However, security sources said that he was not holding significant position in the NSCN (I-M) hierarchy, Mr Ikato Swu joining Mr Ramsan, the vice-chairman and an executive member of the NSCN (I-M)’s steering committee, and Mr Raman, the Deputy Longvibu (Deputy Commander) of the Naga Army could adversely impact the NSCN (I-M)’s credibility among the Nagas from Nagaland as the outfit’s general secretary and Ato Kilonser (Prime Minister) Th Muivah is a Tangkhul Naga from Manipur. Much of the top leadership of the outfit is also dominated by Tangkhuls. The presence of Isak Chisi Swu who was from Nagaland and Ikato, following his death, gave the NSCN (I-M) the image of a united Naga leadership coming from both Manipur and Nagaland.

Sources in Nagaland were of view that If Mr Swu, along with Mr Ramsan and Mr Raman, raises a new faction of the NSCN (I-M), it may weaken Mr Muivah’s position and further queer the pitch for an already embattled Naga peace deal.

Indicating that senior NSCN (I-M) leaders were holding consultation within the rank and file to assess the situation, a senior NSCN (I-M) leader however said that the outfit was not going to give any statement against Mr Swu. “However, we are trying to stop the issue from getting blown up,” the leader said.

Mr Swu also spoke about a meeting he had with Centre’s pointsman for the Northeast, former Intelligence Bureau additional director A K Mishra, on July 3, 2023.

“I …mentioned that I am a son of the revolution, and my whole life has been affected by it. There are thousands of youths like me whose lives and futures have been shaped by this struggle. Therefore, if you do not solve the issue promptly, I will raise a new force, devise new strategies, and continue the fight until our goal is achieved,” said Mr Swu.