NSCN-IM leader Muivah returns to Dimapur amid COVID crisis; dialogue postponed

DIMAPUR: Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isaak-Muivah) general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah yesterday returned to the militants' camp Hebron in Dimapur from New Delhi amid the rampant spread of the novel coronavirus in the national capital.

According to reports, NSCN-IM leader Muivah was accompanied by some senior leaders of the organisation in his helicopter.

Although the NSCN-IM leaders and the Government of India representatives were supposed to hold another round of dialogue on April 16 in New Delhi, it has been postponed due to the worsening COVID-19 scenario.

According to reports, Thuingaleng Muivah will go back to New Delhi for talks only after the pandemic situation improves.

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T. Muivah, the 86-year-old Ato Kilonser (prime minister) of the Government of People's Republic of Nagaland (GPRN) NSCN(IM) has been suffering from poor health lately and it is believed that it may have stalled the peace process between the Naga insurgents and the government of India.

Last year, Muivah air-dashed to New Delhi for "treatment" in a chartered plane along with his wife and seven others.

Upon arrival in Dimapur yesterday, a masked Muivah had to be helped out of the chopper by his aides.

The NSCN-IM had signed a ceasefire agreement with the Centre in 1997. Ever since then, the two sides have held over 100 rounds of peace parleys within and outside the country but the solution to the protracted “Naga political problem” continues to elude both the sides.

Among the contentious issues in the talks include the NSCN-IM’s demands for a separate Naga flag and Naga constitution. The rebel outfit operates out of the soil of Nagaland, Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and Myanmar.

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