The affable face of the aggressive Naga movement

Vinay Kumar

Isak Chisi Swu, co-founder of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM), died in a Delhi hospital on Tuesday after battling severe kidney ailments and other complications over the past one year. He was 86.

“He is no longer with us. We mourn the death of an honest leader in Naga history. He spent all his life for the cause of Nagas. May his soul rest in peace,” wrote Naga Mirror.

Along with Thuingaleng Muivah, Swu had headed the NSCN (I-M) which turned out to be the most powerful and influential Naga insurgent outfits. The group, formed in 1988, carried on a violent campaign for a separate state of Nagaland till it entered into a ceasefire agreement with the Centre in 1997 during the Prime Ministership of Inder Kumar Gujral, who was heading the United Front coalition government at the time.

Born in 1929, he was the son of Kushe Chishi Swu, who hailed from Chishilimi Naga village, an abode of the Sema tribe in Zunheboto district of Nagaland. He did his early education at the American Mission School at Chishilimi, then studied at Government High School, Kohima, and graduated in political science (honours) from St. Anthony’s College, Shillong.

He joined the underground movement in the late 1950s and served as “foreign secretary” of the Naga National Council (NNC), a political organisation of the Naga people, which was active from the late 1940s to the early 1950s. Under the leadership of Angami Zapu Phizo in the 1940s, it unsuccessfully campaigned for the secession of the Naga territory from India and the creation of a sovereign Naga state. He was later elevated as vice-president of the NNC.

Isak Chishi Swu was married to Khulu, and the couple has five sons and a daughter.

Swu, Muivah and S.S. Khaplang were the principal movers behind the formation of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) on January 31, 1980, opposing the Shillong Accord signed by the then Naga National Council (NNC) with the Government of India. Following a disagreement, the group split into two factions, the NSCN-K led by S. S. Khaplang, and the NSCN-IM, led by Swu and Muivah. Swu remained chairman of the NSCN, a post he held in the NSCN (I-M) faction also till death.

Though it was Muivah who used to play a dominant and aggressive role in conducting lengthy negotiations with the government interlocutors, whether in Bangkok, Amsterdam or any other place, it was Swu who was the more affable, patient and attentive listener and kept a low profile. “Mr Swu kept away from the limelight. He was easy to approach and would make you feel at ease,” recalled a senior government official.

His death has dealt a blow of uncertainty to the movement and progress of the framework agreement that was the first step towards establishing long-lasting peace in Nagaland and settling the contentious political issues.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had described the agreement as a “historic step” to usher in peace in the far-flung north-eastern state. The agreement was signed in the presence of the Prime Minister, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, by NSCN (I-M) general secretary Muivah and government interlocutor R. N. Ravi. It was also the ill-health of Swu which led to the signing of the framework agreement last year as the outfit wanted him to be witness to the peace process being put on a firm path, according to authoritative sources.

The agreement also marked the culmination of more than 80 rounds of negotiations that had gone on after the 1997 ceasefire agreement. Though the framework agreement is still wrapped in secrecy, the government maintains that peace talks with the NSCN (I-M) are continuing.

The writer is a Delhi-based journalist