All you need to know about 'mother of all insurgencies' NSCN-IM

The National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM) signed a peace accord with the Modi-led BJP government on Monday. The agreement came eighteen years since 1997 when the talks had begun with the insurgent group.

About the NSCN

• The National Socialist Council of Nagaland was formed in January 1980. The founders, Isak Chisi Swu, Thuingaleng Muivah and SS Khaplang had created the group to oppose the Naga National Council’s decision to accept the Indian Constitution. They were against the Shillong Accord of November 1975 which was signed by Angami Zapu Phizo's Naga National Council.
• The objective of the group was to create a sovereign nation 'Naglim' which would have all regions in the Northeast and Myanmar that are inhabited by the Naga tribes. The group follows Mao Zedong's ideaology and Christianity with the underlying principle of socialism for economic development and a spiritual outlook – ‘Nagaland for Christ’.
• The faction NSCN-IM, which came to be known as the 'mother of all insurgencies' after a split between two clans in the group. In April 1988, Khaplang leading the Konvaks clan announced the formation of NSCN-K after making an unsuccessful attempt on Muivah's life. Khaplang now heads the recently-floated United National Liberation Front of Western South-East Asia, an umbrella group of five more rebel outfits from northeastern region, including ULFA, PLA and NDFB(S). NSCN-K, along with a few Manipuri outfits, were responsible for the killing of 18 army men in Chandel district of Manipur on June.
• The NSCN-IM was thus created by Tangkhul clan under its leaders Isak and Muivah. Both NSCN-IM and NSCN-K have been accusing each other of working for the government of India.

The NSCN-IM

• The group reportedly runs a parallel government in regions which it controls. The regions include several districts in Nagaland as well as neighbouring Assam, Arunachal Pradesh. The leaders and members have lived or traveled to countries  like Pakistan, China and Thailand. The group reportedly has support from the Naga community in Thailand. 
• The group has reportedly reached out to UN Human Rights Organisations in Geneva, Unrepresented Nations People’s Organisation (UNPO) at the Hague and the UN Working Group on Indigenous People (UNWGIP).
• NSCN-IM agreed to a ceasefire in 1997 which led to the beginning of the peace process with the Indian government. 
• However the process ran into a hurdle when the group demanded for a separate flag and its demand to get all Naga-inhabited areas under one administrative umbrella. 
• In 2011, Chairman Isak Chishi Swu accepted an Indian passport on his return from Bangkok, Thailand last month, encouraging the peace process. 
• In June 2015, the group offered to assist Centre to take down its rival NSCN-K. It had expressed its desire to help security forces hunt down its arch rival NSCN-K rebels, who killed 18 soldiers in Manipur in June, 2015. The Centre was turned down the offer saying it was capable of dealing with the NSCN-K.
• A five-point resolution was passed by the Nagaland legislative assembly on July 27, which also included “integration of all contiguous Naga-inhabited areas”, reports The Hindustan Times. This was unanimously supported by the representatives of Naga civil society.
• Other resolutions which were passed were the resumption of ceasefire between New Delhi and NSCN-Khaplang and removal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) of 1958 from Nagaland, adds the report. The NSCN-K in March 27, 2015, walked out of the peace process that was signed in April 2001 this year.  
• The resolution has caused worry among Nagaland's neighbours Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Manipuras over the “integrating Naga-inhabited areas”. The resolution has evoked a feeling of threat to the states' territorial integrity.
• Violent protests have followed the Nagaland's demand. In Manipur a mob had set fire to the state assembly in 2001.