Muivah heads home despite Manipur ban

Viswema: The name of this village, in the local Angami dialect, means “march forward” and it was here, 20 km off Kohima, that Thuingaleng Muivah, general secretary, National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM), was first elected general secretary of Phizo’s Naga National Council (NNC) way back in 1964.

“Yes, it is my first visit to Viswema after that historic day in 1964 when I was elected general secretary of the NNC led by Phizo. Since then I have not looked back, and have never lacked in sincerity in taking forward Phizo’s movement for a sovereign Nagalim,” said Muivah in a public reception organised by the Viswema Village Council on Wednesday evening.

Muivah is on his way to Somdel in Manipur’s Ukhrul district despite opposition by the Manipur government, and the halt at Viswema is a strategic stopover. Viswema is just 10 km short of Mao, the inter-state border gate between Nagaland and Manipur, where the Manipur government has placed a huge posse of policemen to prevent Muivah from entering the state on Thursday.

“Don’t fear the Indians. We know who they are. We also know what they can do. But the most important thing is they (India) cannot crush us, the Nagas,” Muivah said in his speech as crowd spilled over the 400-seat capacity Viswema village hall. Muivah, whom village council chairman R Ketsore repeatedly referred to as ‘ato kilonser’ or prime minister, said, “While we fought for 20 years (as NSCN-IM), it was Indian General Shankar Roy Choudhury (former Army chief) who had first publicly said the Naga issue could not be solved militarily. That an Indian General admitted it was our first achievement,” Muivah said.

Recalling the chronology of events leading to start of talks with the government, Muivah said talks began only after the government agreed the Nagas had a unique history. “Naga history is not part of Indian history, and there is no confusion on this,” he claimed.

He recalled the contributions of A Z Phizo and other founders of the Naga movement and said the NSCN-IM was following the same path as NNC under Phizo. “But for the NNC and Phizo, the Nagas would have been lost. Our history would have been different,” Muivah said.