Conflict

The tragedy of the Naga political movement has been the annihilation of Nagas by Nagas themselves. The Nagas have remained cleaved along various schools of thought. Between radicals and moderates (from the killing of Theyieu Sakhrie to that of Kaito Sema) among the insurrectionists themselves. Also between those underground and those overground (from the killing of Imkongliba Ao to that of the Kevichusa brothers). And somewhere complicating all these delicate equations and rendering all...

He was barely in his thirties, when this strapping young man trekked all the way to China braving dense jungles, treacherous passes and hostile forces all around. More than 30 years later, the magic still works. The twinkle in his eyes unmistakable, the general secretary of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN), Thuingaleng Muivah, retains a charm and sharp intellect that makes him the leader of the most potent and dreaded insurgent organisation in the Northeast. Back again in Nagalim...

Had he not become the leader of the dreaded insurrectionist organisation, he would probably have been serving in a mission. The last time that negotiations were held between the Indian government and Naga guerrillas in the late Sixties, playing a key role was a suave young man in his mid-30s. Another 30 summers later, the same man is set to play a bigger role in the current negotiations. Meet the soft-spoken, deeply-religious chairman of the underground National Socialist Council of Nagaland...

For all that might be said to the contrary, the fact is security forces have more often than not failed to come clean as far as counter-insurgency operations in the Northeast are concerned. It is therefore not without reason the "success" of the much-hyped Operation Golden Bird has to be taken with a pinch of salt. In what has been described as the biggest anti-insurgency operation in the Northeast since the Army's deployment there in the 1950s, security forces claimed to have killed a motley...