In a dramatic move, the Khaplang faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN) has expelled its founder chairman, S.S.Khaplang from the top post. He had removed the outfit’s armed wing chief, General Khole Konyak and filled another senior post without consulting his national assembly. It is a major blow to the NSCN (K) which has been on a ceasefire mode with the Union Government since 2001. It has not made much progress since then, in contrast to the progress of the peace talks between Delhi and the NSCN (IM). Khaplang is a Hemi-Naga originally from Myanmar. The decision to impeach and remove him was taken at an emergency session of the outfit’s national assembly. Meanwhile, General Khole Konyak has been appointed new chairman of the faction. Khaplang was accused of arbitrary action and of hampering the efforts of the Forum for Naga Reconciliations to bring peace in the Naga homeland. Reference was also made to Khaplang’s remote-control type of administration which overruled the National Hoho resolution of November, 2009. Khaplang was a founder of the NSCN along with T. Muivah in the wake of the Shillong Accord of 1975. They broke up in 1988.
A leader of the NSCN (IM) felt that security agencies might have engineered Khaplang’s expulsion. A split in a Myanmar-based insurgent group is in the Centre’s interest. It also puts Myanmar out of the focus of operations. Khaplang who is in Myanmar may have been in league with Paresh Barua of the ULFA who is also holed up there. Khole represents the backward eastern Naga tribes. The Centre treats the whole matter as internal. Both NSCN factions want a separate Constitution for Nagaland and the creation of a greater Nagalim, demands which are unacceptable to Delhi. Khole may also press a demand for integration with some areas in Myanmar. The latest development has merely further complicated the Naga crisis.