The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said on Thursday (September 5, 2024) that the ceasefire agreement between the Government of India and the Niki Sumi faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (K) has been extended by one year. The agreement document said that it was being done “to bring about a lasting peace in the State of Nagaland with the involvement of Naga people.”
“It was decided to extend the Ceasefire Agreement for a period of one year with effect from 08.09.2024 to 07.09.2025. This Agreement was signed on 06.09.2021,” the MHA said.
Sumi is wanted by the National Investigation Agency for allegedly planning the attack on an Army convoy in Manipur’s Chandel district on June 4, 2015, when 18 personnel were killed. He carries a reward of ₹10 lakh on his arrest.
Sumi was the head of the armed wing of the Khaplang faction of the NSCN, led by S.S. Khaplang, which was banned in 2015 after the Chandel ambush. Before the attack, NSCN-K unilaterally abrogated the ceasefire with the Centre in March 2015. Sumi, a resident of Nagaland, was expelled from the Myanmar-based camp of NSCN-K in June 2020 following which Indian security agencies went on his trail. He floated the NSCN (K) on December 18, 2020.
“The Ceasefire will be subject to adherence to the Ceasefire Ground Rules mutually agreed to and signed by the two sides. The Rules will be subject to mutual review and amendment with the involvement of both the parties,” the agreement signed by Abel Zingru Thuer and Ameka Achumi on behalf of the NSCN (K) Niki and Piyush Goyal, additional secretary, MHA, said. The Hindu has seen the agreement.
Khaplang, a Hemi Naga from Myanmar who led the Naga insurgency for decades, died in 2017. He had formed his own outfit in 1988 after he fell out with Isak Chisi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah, the other two Naga leaders who went on to form the NSCN-IM, the group which signed a framework agreement with the government in 2015 to find a permanent solution to the Naga issue.
Naga outfits envisage a ‘Greater Nagalim’, or a contiguous land for the Nagas spanning over Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Myanmar.
Published - September 05, 2024 09:31 pm IST
