NSCN(K) faction revokes decision to abrogate ceasefire

A breakaway faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang), led by Khango Konyak, has decided to revoke its decision of unilaterally abrogating the ceasefire agreement with the Union government with immediate effect.

The chairman and general secretary of the NSCN(K) faction, Khango Konyak and Isak Sumi, said in a joint statement on Thursday that the outfit resolved to revoke the unilateral decision after holding wide consultations with NGOs and civil society groups of the state in the past one month.

The NSCN(K) had signed ceasefire with the Centre in 2001 but unilaterally abrogated it in March 2015 when the then chairman of the group, S S Khaplang, was alive.

The statement said that the appeal made by various organisations and the "positive response" by the Government of India were also factors that led to its decision.

The NSCN(K) expects the Centre to respond positively by honouring its decision to revive the ceasefire in the interest of peace in Nagaland and the Naga people in general, the statement said.

The NSCN-IM has been engaged with peace talks with the interlocutor of the central government since 1997, when it announced a ceasefire agreement after a bloody insurgency movement, which started in Nagaland soon after the country's Independence.

Subsequently, the Centre signed a Framework Agreement with the NSCN (IM) on August 3, 2015.

The Union government has also started separate talks with working committees of six Naga nationalist political groups since 2017.