Nagaland: Breakaway NSCN(IM) faction forms 'provisional government', says ceasefire spirit has 'ceased to exist'

A breakaway faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) [NSCN(IM)] has announced the formation of a "provisional government", claiming that the spirit of the ceasefire agreement signed with the Centre in 1997 has "ceased to exist".

The newly formed Eastern Flank faction named Ikato I. Chishi Swu, son of late NSCN(IM) co-founder Isak Chishi Swu, as chairman of the provisional government, while Hs Ramsan was appointed vice chairman. Several other leaders were also named as members and advisers.

Both Ikato Swu and Ramsan were recently expelled from the NSCN(IM), and their elevation is being viewed as a direct challenge to the parent organisation's leadership headed by Thuingaleng Muivah, who is in his 90s.

The decisions were taken during a meeting of the Eastern Flank held at Mt Horeb Camp in Myanmar on Tuesday.

In a statement, the faction said it had resolved to establish a provisional government "until a full-fledged government is formed", asserting that the move was necessary to "save the nation from another surrender" and to "rescue the Naga political movement from its present predicament."

The group further claimed that the spirit of the ceasefire agreement between the Centre and NSCN(IM), which marked the beginning of peace negotiations in 1997, no longer exists.

The strength of the newly formed faction and the number of leaders who have joined it remain unclear. The development is expected to deepen the ongoing internal crisis within the NSCN(IM), even as the long-pending Naga peace process continues.