Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!

“Where there is no vision, the people perish.” — Proverbs 29:18

Warm revolutionary and season’s greetings to all the citizens of Nagalim, in the precious name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

As the year 2025 draws to a close and the Nagas stand at a crossroads in their political struggle and journey, I feel compelled to share some of my observations, thoughts, concerns, and visions, and also to suggest the way forward during these trying times.

From the historical and political perspective, when we look at the history of the Naga political struggle, it is evident that the Nagas have always attempted to resolve their political issue through peaceful means—namely through written representations, peaceful demonstrations, negotiations, and dialogue. However, each time, the aggressors have responded negatively by employing force, intimidation, trickery, deceit, false propaganda, military might, and money power to undermine, subjugate, and betray the most honest and sincere efforts of the Nagas to resolve the Indo-Naga political issue. The same pattern continues to this day.

The first instance was the signing of the “Nine-Point Agreement” between NNC leaders and the then Governor of Assam, Sir Akbar Hydari, in June 1947. Within days of signing the agreement, the Indian Constituent Assembly unilaterally bypassed its principles, while simultaneously the Indian Armed Forces were preparing to invade the Naga homeland. Sir Akbar Hydari warned the Nagas that if they refused to join the Indian Union, India would use force against them. Accordingly, the Indian State employed its armed forces to perform the impossible task of resolving a political question through military means by occupying the Naga homeland.

The Indian Armed Forces entered the Naga homeland and committed gross human rights violations: women were raped, villages were burned, and innocent Naga populace were tortured and killed. It is difficult to list all the atrocities committed against the Nagas, as they were too numerous to count. It is said that between 1956 and 1964 alone, there were no fewer than 150,000 Naga casualties, mostly civilians.

Thereafter, the Government of India, through trickery and deceit, in collaboration with some treacherous NNC leaders with vested interests, and through a scheme proposed by S. M. Dutt, Deputy Director of the S.I.B., based in Shillong, proposed the creation of Nagaland as a state under the Indian Union. The sole purpose was to break the NNC and the Federal Government of Nagaland, weaken and suppress the nationalist movement, and divide the Nagas to rule them.

He managed to convince Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India, by asserting that this was the only way to break the NNC and FGN, and obtained approval to proceed with the proposal. S. M. Dutt encouraged those treacherous NNC leaders to initiate the cooperation movement, and simultaneously approached some high-ranking Naga Indian government employees based in Shillong to form a body—a puppet assembly—and submit a written representation to the Government of India concerning the proposed scheme, to which the Government of India would respond positively.

Accordingly, in 1958, these employees, along with the treacherous NNC leaders, formed a puppet assembly known as the Naga People’s Convention. In 1960, without the consent, support, or participation of the Naga people, the Convention formulated a sixteen-point memorandum or charter of demands, popularly known as the 16-Point Agreement. Based on this charter, Article 371(A) was formulated, granting certain special privileges under the Indian Constitution, and the state of Nagaland was carved out and declared on 1st December 1963 as the sixteenth state of the Indian Union.

Simultaneously, the Indian-occupied Naga territories were fragmented by placing them under different administrative units of Assam, Manipur, and Arunachal Pradesh, thereby undermining the Naga vision and aspiration to live as one independent political entity.

The second instance occurred during the first ceasefire agreement, which came into effect on 6th September 1964 through the initiative of the Nagaland Baptist Church Council at a convention held in Wokha, attended by several thousand people. They proposed the establishment of a Peace Commission. Two of the members of this Commission were to be Indians of high standing and integrity: B. P. Chaliha, the Chief Minister of Assam; J. P. Narayan, an active Gandhian; and Rev. Michael Scott from England.

Earlier, Jawaharlal Nehru had rejected a meeting proposed by NNC President A. Z. Phizo, as well as the proposal for a ceasefire between the two entities. However, the Indian Government’s attitude toward the NNC’s ceasefire proposal changed after the formation of this Commission. The first round of negotiations commenced on 23rd September 1964.

Initially, the Indian Government attempted to approach the Naga issue as a “law and order problem” rather than a “political issue,” resulting in a stalemate. Seven rounds of discussions were held with Indian officials led by Y. D. Gundevia, India’s fifth Foreign Secretary, followed by another six rounds with Indian political leadership, including Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The political talks continued for eighteen months but yielded no result, and the negotiations ultimately reached a dead end.

Consequently, the Peace Commission was dissolved, and Rev. Scott was arrested in May 1966 and deported from India after all papers and documents related to the peace process were seized. Military operations by the Indian Armed Forces intensified once again. Yet another opportunity to resolve the Indo-Naga political issue through peaceful means was shattered.

In 1975, the state of Nagaland was placed under “President’s Rule,” followed by the declaration of a “National Emergency” across the Indian subcontinent from 1975 to 1977. Taking advantage of this precarious situation, the Indian State launched a continuous series of military operations and subjected known relatives of Naga political leaders of the resistance movement to inhuman harassment and death threats.

Under these extremely compelling circumstances, members of the NNC belonging to the Federal Government of Nagaland were forced, under duress, to sign the Shillong Accord on 11th November 1975. The Accord stated: “On their own volition, they accept, without condition, the Constitution of India.” They also agreed to surrender their arms and, in due course, to formulate other issues of settlement.

Accordingly, NNC members were confined to designated camps and provided with basic necessities and security protection by the Government of India, a situation that continues to this day. The signatories to the Accord neither consulted the Naga people nor sought the views of A. Z. Phizo, President of the NNC; Isak Chishi Swu, Vice President of the NNC; or Th. Muivah, General Secretary of the NNC.

On 15–16 August 1976, a Naga National Assembly was held, where leaders of the Naga resistance movement denounced the Shillong accord. The Accord was regarded as a sell-out of Naga rights, and the continuation of the struggle was announced in August 1976. Isak Chishi Swu, S. S. Khaplang, and Th. Muivah, NNC leaders, rejected the Shillong Accord. They provided opportunities for the other top NNC leaders to clarify their positions and officially denounce the Accord. When this failed, they were compelled to dissociate themselves from the NNC. Eventually, the trio, after having escaped death and persecution from the “Accordists,” formed the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN) on 31 January 1980, with Isak Chishi Swu as Chairman, S. S. Khaplang as Vice-Chairman, and Th. Muivah as General Secretary, to continue pursuing the rights of the Nagas.

The NSCN suffered a setback in 1988 when it split into two factions through the instigation of the Government of India’s intelligence agencies. S. S. Khaplang formed his own group under the same name. Under draconian laws such as the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, and the Disturbed Areas Act, Indian security forces once again intensified military operations across all Naga areas. Through intelligence agencies, they encouraged and orchestrated fratricidal killings and factional clashes among the Nagas. This situation continued until the ceasefire agreement came into effect on 1 August 1997.

The third instance is the present ceasefire, which has been ongoing for the last 28 years through the initiative of the Government of India. Since 1982, the GoI had been sending “feelers” to the NSCN to engage in political discussions to resolve the Indo-Naga political issue. It took 33 years after the failure of the first ceasefire in 1964 to arrive at a common understanding, following years of cautious and informal parleys, to provide yet another opportunity to resolve the Indo-Naga political issue through peaceful means of negotiation and dialogue. This was made possible because, after more than five decades of military operations against the Nagas, three generals of the Indian Armed Forces acknowledged that “ military solution is not possible; the Naga issue is a political one requiring a political solution.” This confession and recognition—that the use of force cannot resolve the Indo-Naga political issue—opened the way for genuine dialogue.

On 12 June 1995, a landmark meeting was held in Paris between P. V. Narasimha Rao, the Prime Minister of India, and Isak Chishi Swu and Th. Muivah, the collective leadership of the NSCN, wherein various issues were discussed. During the talks, Mr. Rao stated: “I believe in a political solution. We must solve the problem through political talks and dialogue. We should be patient enough and tolerant in tackling the problem.”

Subsequently, in September 1995, the Indian Prime Minister’s Office sent its Principal Secretary, Mr. A. N. Verma, to meet the NSCN collective leadership in New York.

The following year, in 1996, after H. D. Deve Gowda took over as Prime Minister of India, he sent late Mr. Rajesh Pilot, Member of Parliament and former Minister of State (Home) for Internal Security, as the Special Emissary of the Government of India. Mr. Pilot met the collective leadership in Bangkok on 17 November 1996. On 3 February 1997, Mr. H. D. Deve Gowda himself met the collective leadership in Zurich, Switzerland. Mr. Gowda assured the NSCN leadership that his government would pursue the matter on the principles laid down by the previous government. He stated: “We believe in peaceful means. We must seek a peaceful political solution.”

After all these significant meetings, the NSCN and the GoI signed a ceasefire agreement on 24 July 1997. On 25 July 1997, Mr. I. K. Gujral, the Prime Minister of India, on behalf of the GoI, made an announcement in the Indian Parliament declaring a three-month ceasefire between the NSCN and the GoI with effect from 1 August 1997.

Simultaneously, on the same day, on behalf of the NSCN, Chairman Isak Chishi Swu announced the same from Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The total suspension of armed conflict between the two entities came into effect on 1 August 1997.

The guiding principles on which the ceasefire agreement was bilaterally agreed were:

1. The political talks would be unconditional;
2. The talks would be held at the highest level (Prime Minister’s level);

iii. The talks would be conducted in third, neutral countries.

After the formal declaration, the ceasefire was extended several times, and various rounds of political negotiations were held in Thailand, Austria, the Netherlands, Malaysia, Japan, Italy, France, and Switzerland. In September 1998, Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the Prime Minister of India, met the NSCN collective leadership in Paris and stated: “I believe in a peaceful political solution. Violence and military solutions are ruled out. We must seek a political solution because it is a political issue.” He further reiterated his commitment when he met the collective leadership for the second time in Osaka, Japan, on 8 December 2001.

On 11 July 2002, the Government of India, in a joint communiqué issued from Amsterdam, for the first time in Indo-Naga history, made an official statement recognizing “the unique history and situation of the Nagas…,” and agreed that the talks should proceed in an accommodative and forward-looking manner so that a lasting and honourable solution could be arrived at’’. The unique history of the Nagas is clearly demonstrated by the fact that they were never a part of British India, India, or Burma (now Myanmar) by consent or conquest. This recognition was appreciated by the Naga people, as it implied that the GoI formally acknowledged that “the Nagas never accepted the Indian Constitution, did not form a part of the Indian Union, and are an independent and sovereign people.” This provided a basic framework for the talks to proceed.

Thereafter, on the invitation of the Prime Minister of India, the NSCN collective leadership visited India in January 2003 to strengthen the peace process.

On 7 December 2004, after the UPA government came to power, Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, in New Delhi, addressed a Naga delegation headed by the collective leadership and said: “We are equally keen to work out a mutually acceptable and honourable solution. We will be sincere in tackling the problem. We will give our utmost effort to hammer out an honourable solution. We will jointly explore every possible way to bring about a solution. Yes, it has to be brought through mutual discussion and understanding so that a solution acceptable to both parties is arrived at.”

Again, on 9 February 2005, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stated: “I have deputed three ministers to talk with you. We are sincere and serious, and we could solve the problem. The pattern of the relationship should be worked out.”

On 24 June 2005, Th. Muivah, the Chief Negotiator, met Dr. Manmohan Singh in New Delhi at his official residence. The Prime Minister said: “We are serious, sincere, and have confidence that we could solve the problem through peaceful means. You have to be patient with us; we have started taking every positive step. We do not underrate your issue. This is our assurance.”

Accordingly, R. S. Pandey, the GoI’s interlocutor during Dr. Manmohan Singh’s prime ministership, in 2010 proposed a new relationship between the two entities based on… The principle of an honourable and acceptable solution to both sides, the Framework Agreement was formulated after studying its contents sentence by sentence and word by word by both negotiating parties. However, when R. S. Pandey approached the UPA leaders with the proposal, they reprimanded him by saying, “We told you to manage the situation or the issue, not to solve it.” When he saw the insincerity of the GoI, he realized the futility of continuing as an interlocutor and decided to resign from his position.

In 2014, the BJP-led NDA government came to power, and Narendra Modi became the next Prime Minister of India. R. N. Ravi was appointed as the new Interlocutor of the Indo-Naga political talks. With new fervour and commitment, the political talks continued.

In 2015, when Chairman Isak Chishi Swu was on his sickbed, all the CSO leaders, Naga leaders, and Indian leaders started expressing their concern, saying that it would be difficult to solve the Indo-Naga political issue if Chairman Isak Chishi Swu did not sign any document and passed away. Realizing the urgency, the GoI Interlocutor R. N. Ravi and the Chief Negotiator of NSCN, Th. Muivah, along with Indian leaders and Naga leaders, planned to have a signing ceremony of the Framework Agreement. Eventually, on 3rd August 2015, by the grace of God and through the prayer support of all the people and Churches in Nagalim, Chairman Isak Chishi Swu was able to gather his strength to sign the Framework Agreement from his sickbed at Fortis Hospital, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi.

Thereafter, the formal signing ceremony of the “Framework Agreement” between the GoI and NSCN was conducted at the Indian Prime Minister’s residence at 7, Race Course Road, New Delhi, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Ajit Doval (NSA), and many other top-ranking officials from the GoI side, and the top-ranking officials of NSCN led by Chief Negotiator and Ato Kilonser Th. Muivah. The entire ceremony was televised and was witnessed by the whole world.

In the Framework Agreement, the Government of India officially recognized the following principles:

1. Official recognition of the issue as a “political conflict.”
2. Official recognition of the “unique history and position” of the Nagas.
3. Official recognition of the “sovereignty” of the Nagas.
4. Official recognition of “sharing sovereign power” between the “two entities.”
5. Official acknowledgement that the Framework is signed as “two entities” for a “new relationship of peaceful co-existence” based on “shared sovereignty” of “two sovereigns.”
6. Since “sovereignty” is constitutive of identity, the Naga national flag and Naga Constitution are already recognized and acknowledged. The “sovereign powers” that are mutually agreed upon by the “two entities” shall constitute “the Constitution,” which shall be called “Yezhabo” in the Naga language.

However, after the demise of Chairman Isak Chishi Swu on 28 June 2016, the GoI, under the pressure and influence of the RSS, started backtracking on the Framework Agreement. R. N. Ravi began changing the narrative of the Framework Agreement by removing and deleting some key words written in the Agreement. This became the new strategy or plan of the GoI to sabotage the FA, as they no longer wanted a solution in the letter and spirit of the Framework Agreement. They refused to recognize the Naga flag and Constitution, although this was in contravention of the Framework Agreement.

The GoI, through its intelligence agencies, funded and encouraged the formation and multiplication of various factions. All of them were given due recognition by the GoI; they entered into ceasefire under SOO (Suspension of Operations) and were allowed to collect taxes so that the Naga populace would be sufficiently harassed and animosity would be created between the national workers and the general public. Further, the GoI clubbed seven factions together to form the so-called NNPG in 2016 to sabotage the Framework Agreement.

Simultaneously, the GoI, through its intelligence agencies, was also able to infiltrate within the NSCN set-up, and many NSCN members, including high-ranking officials, came under the pay-check of the GoI and have been working in connivance with the GoI till date.

By 2017, R. N. Ravi began to say that both integration of Naga areas and the Indo-Naga political solution should be sought through democratic means and not through political will or means. On 25 August 2017, the Chief Negotiator and Ato Kilonser Th. Muivah reminded R. N. Ravi about the meeting he and Chairman Isak Chishi Swu had with Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao on 12 June 1995 in Paris. During the meeting, the duo asked the Prime Minister whether there would be a ceasefire with NSCN only or with other groups as well. The Prime Minister replied that “the Naga issue was with the duo, and if they solve the issue with them, it will be solved.” The duo then again asked about the other groups. The Prime Minister replied, “They are in my hands.”

Therefore, the Chief Negotiator told R. N. Ravi that since the Prime Minister had said that all the other groups were in his hands, it was the responsibility of the GoI to bring all other groups to the negotiating table when the final solution was arrived at. However, instead of doing so, on 17 November 2017, R. N. Ravi signed another agreement with the NNPGs, which they called the “Agreed Position,” further negating his own statement that there would be only one talk and one inclusive solution.

On 20 July 2019, R. N. Ravi was appointed as the Governor of Nagaland while he still continued as the Interlocutor of the Indo-Naga political talks. With this additional charge and assignment, he influenced CSO and NGO leaders in Nagaland with money power to support the Agreed Position and created many more factions to sabotage the Framework Agreement through a divide-and-rule policy. At present, there are more than 28 factions created by the GoI, and most of them are functioning under its pay-check.

After sufficiently mobilizing, indoctrinating, and dividing the Nagas through his gubernatorial influence and money power, R. N. Ravi served an ultimatum to the NSCN in 2019 to accept a solution under the Indian Constitution, setting 31 October 2019 as the deadline. Otherwise, the GoI, as usual, would apply force. Fighter jets were flown over Nagalim to create fear psychosis in the minds of the people for almost a month until the set deadline. However, the NSCN did not give in to the pressure of the GoI. They stood their ground and were able to overcome the situation through fasting and prayer support from churches, prayer groups, and individual prayer warriors in Nagalim and abroad.

Meanwhile, the NSCN was working out the competencies according to the letter and spirit of the Framework Agreement in consultation with some international constitutional experts, Naga intellectuals, politicians, bureaucrats, and technocrats.

Finally, it was completed by December 2019, and it was submitted to the GoI in January 2020. Instead of discussing and finalizing the competency clauses submitted to them by the NSCN, the GoI took the same competencies and modified them by removing and omitting all the clauses that talk about the sharing of sovereign powers between two entities. After they modified and doctored all the competencies, they gave them to the NNPGs. The NNPGs called it their “status paper,” and it was released in the public domain to create more confusion.

This status paper is simply an enhancement of the Sixteen-Point Memorandum or Article 371A under the Indian Constitution. The NNPGs are shouting that if Article 371A is enhanced and fully implemented, it is the final solution for the Nagas; they are acting as the mouthpiece of their paymaster by propagating their ideology. Therefore, the Agreed Position is simply an agreement to accept a solution under the Indian Constitution by surrendering the historical and political rights of the Nagas. If the Nagas accept a solution according to the “Agreed Position,” it will be a repetition of the infamous “Shillong Accord.” The Nagas could end up facing a fate similar to Jammu and Kashmir today.

I say this because Jammu and Kashmir became part of India through the Instrument of 9

Accession signed on October 26, 1947, by its ruler, Maharaja Hari Singh, after Pakistani backed tribal militias invaded, prompting him to seek Indian aid to defend the state.

This led to the first Indo-Pakistan War (1947–48) and the division of the state, with India controlling Jammu, the Kashmir Valley, and Ladakh, while Pakistan controlled other areas. Initially, under the Instrument of Accession, only control over Defence, Foreign Affairs, and Communications was given to the GoI, and for the remaining areas of administration, they had their own Constitution and a separate flag.

After the death of Maharaja Hari Singh, Jammu and Kashmir was annexed under the Indian Union, and draft Article 306A (later renumbered as Article 370) was introduced on October 17, 1949, by N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar, granting special autonomous status. It came into effect with the Indian Constitution on January 26, 1950. While Article 370 came to be seen as effectively permanent, it historically faced ideological opposition. In the 1950s, Syama Prasad Mookerjee, founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), opposed Article 370 on the grounds that it hindered national integration and created unequal constitutional treatment.

In its 2019 Indian general election manifesto, the Bharatiya Janata Party (successor of the BJS) pledged its revocation. After its victory, the Parliament of India passed resolutions to repeal Article 370 in August 2019, and Article 35A was abolished through the suspension of the 1954 Presidential Order. At the same time, a reorganisation Act was also passed to reconstitute the state into two Union Territories: the new Union Territory of Ladakh, with the residual state continuing as the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The reorganisation took effect from October 31, 2019.

In the days that followed, nearly 4,000 people, including two former Chief Ministers and hundreds of other politicians, were arrested by the Indian authorities in Kashmir. The state was put under lockdown, and communication and other services were suspended.

In April 2020, the Government notified a domicile law to replace the previous “permanent residents” scheme. Under the new law, anyone who resided in Jammu and Kashmir for 15 years, or studied for seven years and appeared for Class 10 and Class 12 examinations, would be deemed a ‘domicile’. Government officials who served in Jammu and Kashmir for 10 years and their children also became eligible for domicile status.

In April 2025, it was revealed that over 83,000 people received domicile certificates under the new law who would not have qualified under the old laws. If the Nagas also accept the final solution as proposed in the “Agreed Position” under the Indian Constitution and become a part of India, there is a high chance that, in the near future, the Nagas could also end up facing a fate similar to Jammu and Kashmir. The future of the younger generation of Nagas will be doomed, and all historical and political rights will be compromised. Slowly, Naga culture, ethnicity, and identity will be assimilated and lost completely.

On the other hand, the Framework Agreement was formulated and signed on the principle of “with India, not within India.” Initially, when the GoI was sincere in solving the Indo-Naga political issue, R. N. Ravi himself said during the talks that the competency clauses, once finalised, would be incorporated into both the Constitution of India and the Constitution (Yezhabo) of Nagalim. It would be binding on both parties and could be amended only when a two-thirds majority of both governments agreed to amend it. All other areas not mentioned in the competency clauses would allow the Nagas to freely formulate, exercise, or implement their own laws of the land.

This was in the true letter and spirit of the Framework Agreement. If implemented, it would have been a win-win solution for both negotiating parties. But now, the GoI has deliberately changed its position and gone against the agreement that it itself formulated and signed, displaying dishonest, treacherous, and insincere behaviour. R. N. Ravi, through the directive of the GoI, refused to recognise the flag and Constitution of Nagalim and continued to play his sabotage game by dividing and creating more confusion among the Nagas. Because of his double standards, the NSCN refused to continue political talks with R. N. Ravi and demanded his removal as Interlocutor.

On September 9, 2021, he was appointed Governor of Tamil Nadu, and he resigned from the Interlocutor post on September 22, 2021. A. K. Mishra, former Special Director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), replaced R. N. Ravi, not as Interlocutor but as GoI Representative. Since then, A. K. Mishra has been handling aspects of the talks both informally and formally. During talks with the NSCN, A. K. Mishra said that he was just a representative of the GoI and had no authority to take decisions; he was merely a messenger or go-between. He consistently spoke about the difficulties faced by the GoI in solving the issue and, as instructed by the GoI, maintained that recognition of the flag and Constitution was not possible.

He continued to implement the same policy that R. N. Ravi pursued by dividing the Nagas through the NPGs and CSO leaders under their pay-check. During talks, when he was unable to reply to the NSCN talk team members, he would pretend to understand and say that he would consult the GoI and return with a reply at the next meeting.

Sometimes, he would say that he was not aware of the competency clauses submitted to the GoI through R. N. Ravi and that he did not have a copy of them. At other times, he would say that the competencies would be studied together and finalised.

When he returned for subsequent talks, he would discuss only the situation in the North-East, such as the Manipur situation, without addressing the political issue. In this manner, he kept coming up with one excuse after another, stalling and dragging the political negotiations. This was a direct implementation of the GoI’s policy of managing the issue rather than solving it. Finally, when he ran out of excuses, on December 17, 2023, he challenged and insulted the NSCN talk team members by saying, “Do whatever you can. The GoI will not recognise your flag and Constitution.”

In 2024, citing the Indian parliamentary elections as an excuse, there were no political negotiations throughout the year. On the other hand, on November 7, 2024, Chief Negotiator and Ato Kilonser Th. Muivah issued a press statement on behalf of the NSCN. In his statement, he said:

“Nagalim and the NSCN will not wait forever for the GoI to respect and honour the letter and spirit of the Framework Agreement of August 3, 2015. Neither shall we wait for the GoI to recognise and acknowledge the sovereign national flag and sovereign national Constitution of Nagalim in the political agreement. In order to conclude an honourable political agreement, we rule out peaceful means against the ignominious betrayal of the letter and spirit of the Framework Agreement of August 3, 2015, by the GoI. However, in the first place, we propose a third-party intervention to resolve the betrayal of the letter and spirit of the Framework Agreement of August 3, 2015. If such a political initiative is rejected by the GoI, then the NSCN shall resume violent armed resistance against India to defend Nagalim’s unique history and sovereign existence.”

Despite making such a bold and assertive statement, there was no corresponding action on the part of the NSCN, even though there was no positive response from the GoI. In spite of the insincerity and arrogance displayed by the GoI and its representatives, whenever the media asked the NSCN leadership about the status of political talks, they responded that the talks were positive and in the final stage, whereas the reality was altogether different. They continued making such optimistic statements because some NSCN leaders were under the pay-check of the GoI and wanted to maintain the status quo to enjoy the privileges and benefits offered for conniving and working hand in glove with GoI policies and programmes.

After observing and considering the precarious condition of the political negotiations, and to safeguard the political and historical rights of the Nagas and to complete the unfinished task left behind by my late father, Isak Chishi Swu, I, along with some likeminded comrades, left Hebron on April 5, 2025, and joined Lt. Gen. (Retd.) H. S. Ramsan, VC, and Lt. Gen. Absalom Raman at the Eastern Flank. My comrades and I decided to join the Eastern Flank because, in 2010, Lt. Gen. H. S. Ramsan, along with his entourage, was sent to China on a goodwill mission by my late father, Chairman Isak Chishi Swu, and later returned to strengthen the military base in Eastern Nagalim as a backup plan or Plan B, in case the Indo–Naga political negotiations failed.

Only after we joined the Eastern Flank, following nearly a one-and-a-half-year gap, did the GoI resume political talks with the NSCN. This time, A. K. Mishra came with a new false promise, stating that if the NSCN could call back the national workers stationed in the Eastern Flank and China, the final inking of the Framework Agreement, with recognition of the flag and Constitution, would be completed before August 15, 2025.

When the NSCN was unable to call back the national workers stationed in China and the Eastern Flank, on October 19, 2025, A. K. Mishra bluntly told the NSCN talk team that he could not go beyond what the GoI could offer and that if the NSCN was not willing to accept what was being offered—namely, a solution under the Indian Constitution—there would be no further talks on the issue. Thus, the Indo–Naga political talks once again reached a dead end.

After expressions of serious commitment and assurances by various Prime Ministers of India to resolve the Indo–Naga issue through peaceful means, and after more than 600 rounds of political talks in different countries and continents of the world, and finally in India and Nagalim,Consuming a lot of time, effort, energy, and resources, the GoI has, as usual, once again displayed its arrogance, chauvinistic attitude, and lack of political will to resolve the protracted Indo–Naga political issue through peaceful means, by stating that a solution is possible only under the Indian Constitution.

In all these three instances mentioned above, we can see not only the insincerity, dishonesty, and hypocrisy of India, but also the presence of traitors among the Nagas at every stage of the political struggle, within and without, from generation to generation.

Because of these treacherous elements, the Nagas are on the verge of complete selfdestruction. Even now, the GoI, through these treacherous elements, is trying to implement and impose its agendas and will upon the Nagas. These treacherous elements may come in the form of government servants—both serving and retired—politicians, CSOs and CSO leaders, and some NPGs in the form of pseudo-nationalists.

Under the pay-check of the GoI, some CSOs, CSO leaders, and individuals under the patronage of certain NPGs are forming different kinds of platforms, and through these platforms the GoI is attempting to materialize its policies and programmes even after political negotiations have failed. Because of these treacherous elements, the GoI is boldly taking steps and refusing to concede, even when it knows that the Nagas have their historical and political right to exist as a free nation. They are shamelessly violating all international norms and moral ethics by forcefully keeping the Nagas under them.

On the spiritual aspect, the Nagas have made a covenant with God that Nagalim will be for Christ, which is consistent with God’s eternal plan to restore His created order by reestablishing His Kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven. According to Derek Prince, a renowned British Bible scholar, “A covenant expresses a relationship that God Himself sovereignly initiates out of His own choice and decision.” This is why “Nagalim for Christ” is a covenant between God and the Naga people, because it was through God’s own initiative, choice, and will that He enabled the Nagas to receive the Good News of salvation through American Baptist missionaries who came from the other side of the globe. God did not allow the Nagas to be influenced by Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, and Communist nations because He has a plan and a purpose for the Naga nation.

The idea or concept of “Nagalim for Christ” was propounded by the first American Baptist missionary, Dr. E. W. Clark, when he entered the Naga country in 1872. He declared in the Konyak area, “I have set my foot on this soil, and I will call it Nagalim for Christ, and this will be like Israel,” as inspired by the Holy Spirit. Thereafter, the NBCC adopted “Nagaland for Christ” vide NBCC action dated Impur, December 4–7, 1958, and the commitment to send “Ten Thousand Volunteers for Christ” to reach the unreached around the world with the saving Gospel of Jesus was adopted vide ANBC-77/339 dated Pfutsero, October 13–16, 1977.

At the national level, on October 24, 1965, Inno Scato Swu, the Kedahge (President) of the FGN, declared “Nagaland for Christ” on behalf of the FGN, the churches of Nagaland, and the people of Nagaland, through the proposal of former NSCN Chairman, late Isak Chishi Swu, who was then the Foreign Secretary of the Federal Government of Nagaland, and the people shouted, “Glory to God.” Therefore, “Nagalim for Christ is an eternal covenant with God and the vision, mission, and purpose of existence for the Nagas as a nation’’.

God’s plan and purpose for the Naga nation is to fulfil the task of the Second Israel. The purpose of the First Israel was to bring the Saviour of the world through this God-chosen nation. Accordingly, the work of salvation has been fulfilled and completed by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ through His exemplary life on earth, His death on the cross, and His resurrection on the third day. Now, the purpose of the Second Israel is to share the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth. This is the task given to the Nagas under the covenant of “Nagalim for Christ.” It is the responsibility of every Naga to live up to this high calling and fulfil it.

Because of this covenant the Nagas have with God, He has protected and sustained them thus far for His Name’s sake. But, on the contrary, it can also become the greatest stumbling block for the Nagas if they fail to live up to it. The Naga issue is not only a political issue but also a divine issue. For God, this divine issue is even more important than the political issue, as it affects His eternal plan for humanity and His entire creation. He has chosen the Nagas to fulfil this divine and sacred assignment.

Therefore, if the Nagas fully surrender their lives to the will and purpose of God and are prepared to address this high calling, He will certainly open the door for the Nagas to have national salvation. But if the Nagas are not prepared to do so and seek only a political solution to gratify their own selfish ends, then the door for political salvation shall remain shut until they are prepared.

The destiny of every nation is in the hands of the Almighty, and He has created them to fulfil His purpose and live for His glory, and the same applies to the Nagas as well.

Therefore, as mentioned in the Word of God in Romans 12:1–6, if every Naga can offer themselves as a living sacrifice every day on the altar of Jesus Christ and Him crucified, then in a divine logical order their minds will be renewed and their behavior transformed. Through a renewed mind, God’s will shall be revealed, and it will be discovered progressively in three distinct stages: good, acceptable, and perfect. As one discovers God’s will, one will find the faith needed to do His will. As one follows His will through the proportionate faith given, one will find one’s place and particular function in the Body of Christ—discovering what member one is and how one is to operate. Finally, as one learns one’s place and begins to fulfil one’s function, one will find oneself exercising the needed gifts. Once this divine logical order is seriously followed and experienced, one will become an effective instrument for the Kingdom of Christ and be equipped to fulfil the covenant of “Nagalim for Christ.”

There was a time when the Nagas were involved in physical warfare with the aggressors, and whenever the Nagas went to war after fasting and prayer, God gave them victory in every battle they engaged in, and the Indian generals themselves admitted that a military solution was not possible. Then came the time for political negotiation, and even at the negotiating table, by the grace of God, the Nagas were able to strongly assert and defend their historical and political rights, and finally the Indians also recognised and acknowledged the unique history and situation of the Nagas. Then why are the Nagas unable to resolve their political problem with the aggressors? One of the main reasons is that the Nagas are not spiritually prepared to carry forward the spiritual warfare and fulfil the plan and purpose for which God has created, chosen, and protected them.

Now, having understood the historical, political, and spiritual aspects of the Naga national movement, and considering the present scenario of the Naga political struggle and journey, what should be the way forward for the Nagas? The way forward I would like to suggest is, first and foremost, that the Nagas need to identify all the treacherous elements who have consistently been tools of the adversaries and have acted against national interest for their own selfish gains. These traitors need to be dealt with so that they may not continue to create more mess and havoc in the future.

Secondly, the Nagas have patiently waited and given peace a chance for the past 28 years of ceasefire and 10 years since the signing of the Framework Agreement. For the sake of peace and a political solution, the Nagas have even conceded to accept shared sovereignty instead of absolute sovereignty, even though the Nagas have every right to be sovereign. But since the GoI has willfully rejected the offer to peacefully co-exist as two entities, the time has come for the Nagas to go back to their original stand, as enumerated in the memorandum submitted to the Simon Commission by the Naga Club on January 10, 1929: “to leave us alone to determine ourselves as in ancient times.” We cannot allow the occupational forces and aggressors to continue bluffing us, insulting us, and taking us for a ride as they have been doing for the past 28 years. Nagalim belongs to the Nagas, and they can run their own affairs as in ancient times. The Nagas are a sovereign people and a sovereign nation, and they will continue to be sovereign whether the aggressors and adversaries recognise it or not. In fact, even today there exists a certain Naga area in eastern Nagalim which is still sovereign; it is called the Self-Administered Zone (SAZ), demarcated under the artificial boundary of Myanmar.

Thirdly, since the Naga issue is not only a political issue but also a divine issue, the churches in Nagalim need to play a proactive role in bringing spiritual healing, preparing the people spiritually to fulfil the covenant of “Nagalim for Christ,” and, most importantly, unifying the Naga people through the Word of God, in the name of Jesus, and by the power of the Holy Spirit.

After all the treachery, deceit, and hypocrisy displayed by the GoI, the time has come for every Naga citizen to come forward and assert who they are and what they want themselves to be. It is high time they make their position clear and decide their future with the help of the Almighty. The future of the Nagas is not in the hands of the aggressors but in the hands of Almighty God, whom they trust and believe. If the Nagas come together and unite in His Name, together they will be able to overcome any obstacles or challenges that confront them, achieve their goals, and reach their destination.

In this world, change is the only constant, and if the Nagas cannot adapt to changing times and political scenarios, then the Nagas will become victims of change and of their own circumstances. Let every Naga ask God to grant them His wisdom to make the right choices so that they may become positive agents of change for the benefit of the nation and for God’s glory. I call upon all right-thinking citizens from every part of Nagalim and abroad to come out boldly, contribute, and play their part as responsible citizens towards safeguarding and building our nation. Let us, for once, forget about “me, myself, and I,” and focus on “we, ourselves, and us.” Let us collectively protect our collective interests first; then individual or personal interests will automatically be secured.

We are not asking anything from our aggressors—not even an inch of their territory. We simply want them to leave us as we are. Now, we will opt for nothing less than absolute sovereignty. If they refuse to leave us, we will once again have to start our resistance movement to safeguard and defend our history, identity, political rights, and our sovereign Naga territory. On August 14, 1947, when the NNC declared Naga Independence, there were eighty-four Naga tribes identified and recognised by the NNC, with a total geographical area of 120,000 square kilometres. If all Naga citizens belonging to the above-mentioned number of tribes and occupying the above-mentioned Naga territory can come together and start a mass movement, then, with the blessings of the Almighty, together we can change the destiny of our nation.

In the recent past, we have seen dramatic changes taking place in our neighbouring nations through people’s mass revolutionary movements in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and the Gen-Z movement in Nepal. If they can do it, then why can’t we? I appeal to all the citizens of Nagalim, especially the younger generation, to come forward and take proactive action to change the destiny of our nation. Here at the Eastern Flank, we are waiting for like-minded patriots and nationalists to join us, and we are also preparing ourselves to face any eventualities to save the nation from the aggressors. Come, let us join our forces at every level so that together we may liberate our nation from the aggressors and fulfil God’s plan and purpose for our nation. Wishing you all a very happy and prosperous New Year 2026.

KUKNALIM