In a surprise development, the Naga militant organisation NSCN(K) has impeached and expelled its chairman S S Khaplang for removing the outfit’s armed wing chief and acting in an “autocratic” and “undemocratic” manner.
Seen as a major development in Naga underground politics, the decision to expel Mr. Khaplang was taken yesterday at an emergency session of the ‘National Tatar Hoho’ (national assembly) of the underground outfit at its Khehoi designated camp near Dimapur, an NSCN(K) statement said.
After ousting Mr. Khaplang, who is a Hemi Naga from Myanmar, the organisation’s national assembly nominated C—in—C ’Gen’ Kholi Konyak as the acting president of the “Government of the People’s Republic of Nagaland and acting chairman of NSCN.
The statement said the session was held to deliberate on the “unconstitutional” action of Mr. Khaplang, who without the consent and approval of the national assembly, removed widely respected Naga political figure ‘Gen’ Kholi Konyak from the post of C—in—C of the Naga army.
Mr. Khaplang had also unilaterally filled up the vacant post of vice chairman in the NSCN, it alleged.
The assembly denounced Mr. Khaplang’s “dictatorial” action ordering non-participation of NSCN(K) in the meeting of top leaders of Naga underground groups at Dimapur on September 18 last year and in all subsequent Naga re-conciliation meetings.
It said the chairman’s “unilateral” and “arbitrary” decisions not only hampered the Naga reconciliation move initiated by Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR) to bring peace and reconciliation in Naga homeland but also he remained non-committal on all “burning issues owing to his self-exiled nature of existence for more than ten years.”
The National Socialist Council of Nagaland was formed in 1980 with Mr. Khaplang as chairman, Isak Chishi Swu as vice-president and Th. Muivah as general secretary after a section of the Naga National Council leaders denounced the 1975 Shillong Accord which they described as ‘a sell-out of Naga cause’ and vowed to continue the Naga political struggle.
In 1988, the NSCN split with one faction being led by S S Khaplang and the other led by Isak Chishi Swu and Th. Muivah, resulting in a severe turf war in almost the entire Naga-inhabited areas.
However, due to consistent efforts by the FNR for reconciliation, factional killings in Nagaland drastically declined in the past three years.
