
- NSCN-IM leader Thuingaleng Muivah returned to his village in Manipur after 50 years
- NSCN(IM) is a Naga insurgent group engaged in peace talks with the Centre since 1997
- A 2015 Framework Agreement marked progress in talks between NSCN(IM) and the Indian government
Thuingaleng Muivah, the 91-year-old chief of the northeast's largest insurgent group NSCN(IM), returned to his village today in Manipur's Ukhrul district - where he has not set foot for 50 years. Hundreds of people lined up on the streets of Ukhrul to welcome their "Ato Kilonser", or "prime minister" in the NSCN(IM) heirarchy. Schoolchildren in bright red sweaters waved the distinct light blue flag of their community, and dozens of men and women in traditional Tangkhul Naga attire came to greet Muivah.
Born to a Tangkhul Naga family in Ukhrul's Somdal village, Muivah heads the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah), or NSCN(IM), a Naga armed group that has been in talks with the Centre since 1997.
The NSCN(IM) and the Centre announced a major milestone in 2015 in the form of a "Framework Agreement" to find a sustainable and peaceful solution to their demands.
Isak Chishi Swu, the other top leader of the NSCN(IM), died at 87 due to multiorgan failure at a Delhi hospital in June 2016.

In 2010, the last time Muivah tried to visit the village where he was born, the then Congress government in Manipur didn't let him enter the state, a move that led to protests by his supporters at the Manipur-Nagaland interstate border. Six people were killed in firing by the security forces that year.
Before that, in June 2001, a move to extend the geographical cover of the ceasefire between the NSCN(IM) and the Centre to all Naga-inhabited areas of Manipur led to protests by the Meitei community. Muivah has since lived mostly in Nagaland's Dimapur, some 160 km from Manipur Somdal village.
This time, communities in Manipur have welcomed his homecoming after the Centre paved the way for it.
"We welcome him. We are very excited to see him. We happily, eagerly welcome him as a revolutionary, as a leader of humanity," a member of the Tangkhul Naga tribe in Ukhrul said.
"We are excited! We are waiting to see our honorable Ato Kilonser Thuingaleng Muivah," a young woman said.
The successful visit by Muivah is expected to set the tone for a settlement of the demands raised by the NSCN(IM). The Naga peace talks are at an advanced stage.
Rough Beginnings
Muivah served as the general secretary of the Naga National Council (NNC) that sought independence for Naga-inhabited areas of the northeast. He became one of the most wanted men in Manipur in the 1970s. The government had several times revised the initial reward of Rs 1 lakh for any information that could lead to his arrest.

He left the NNC due to differences with other leaders of the group, and formed the NSCN in January 1990 along with Isak Chishi Swu and SS Khaplang.
Later, Muivah fell out with Khaplang over the question of whether they should begin talks with the central government, which eventually led to the break-up of the NSCN into two factions - Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM), and Khaplang (NSCN-K).
Khaplang died in June 2017, a year after his former comrade Isak Chishi Swu died of age-related ailments.
All these years, even while the NSCN(IM) was in talks with the Centre, Muivah's inability to visit his ancestral Somdal village greatly disturbed him, sources said, adding there was no restriction on other NSCN(IM) leaders on visiting anywhere in Manipur.
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