Will Khaplang’s demise trigger the end of NSCN(K)?

Shangwang Shangyung Khaplang, one of the most wanted rebel Naga leader, is no more. At 77, Khaplang passed away following a cardiac arrest at his birthplace in Kachin, Myanmar on Friday night.

In a 2015 joint operation of north-east based militant groups in Manipur, 18 Indian Army jawans were killed. India’s response not only included a surgical strike on the porous Indo-Myanmar border, which killed a handful of militants but also named a top Naga leader as India’s most wanted militant leader in the region. That man, 77-year-old Shangwang Shangyung Khaplang is no more.

Khaplang, the chief of the banned National Socialist Council of Nagaland NSCN(K), died after a prolonged illness in Taga, the Council’s headquarters and a self-administered region in Sagaing division of Myanmar.

With his death, an era of Naga insurgency, one of the oldest in south-east Asia has come to an end.

Khaplang, who is a Myanmarese national and hails from the Hemi Naga tribe, has dominated the scenes for over 50 years. Thus, he was more than just another rebel chief — he ran a parallel regime in vast areas occupied by the Nagas on either side of the Indo-Myanmar border.

It was in April 1940 that Khaplang was born in Myanmar’s Waktham village, close to the Pangsau Pass which linked both the countries. At that time, the entire area was under the British Raj.

He did his basic schooling at Assam’s Margherita and then in Myitkina, Myanmar’s Kachin state, which was controlled by Kachin Independence Army (KIA), a rebel group. Soon, he dropped out and went underground.

Khaplang gave a call for ‘Naga autonomy’ in Naga-dominated areas of Myanmar and was a key founder of the Naga Defence Force (NDF), which was later dissolved to form a larger group — Eastern Naga Revolutionary Council (ENRC) — of Naga rebels from both sides of the border Khaplang.

It was during the same time when Nagas in the hills of Assam — present-day Nagaland was then a district of Assam — had raised another armed revolution for their sovereignty led by Angami Zapu Phizo. Khaplang had joined forces with Phizo’s Naga National Council (NNC) and later rose to become its vice-chairman in 1974. Khaplang always wanted that all contiguous Naga inhabiting areas on either side of the border to be unified and hence demanded a separate sovereign “Nagalim”.

While the NNC gave up its demand for Naga sovereignty in 1975 through the Shillong Accord, a section of the NNC leaders revolted. Khaplang, who was in Myanmar at the time, supported the revolt and rescued the two young leaders — Issak Chisi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah — who revolted, with the help of one of the most dreaded Naga commander of all time and NSCN(K)’s co-founder Khole Konyak.

These four people then came together to form one of north-east India’s biggest underground militant groups — the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN) in 1980.

It was Khaplang’s influence over the Naga village heads in Myanmar that allowed NSCN to set-up its base in Hukawng Valley. Soon NSCN started running a parallel government in Nagaland that kept the Indian Army on its toes.

Later Swu, Muivah and Khaplang developed major differences including an attempt on Muivah’s life as well.Thus, friends became foes.

In 1988 NSCN saw a major vertical split — Khaplang along with Khole Konyak left the Council to form NSCN(K). What ensued was a spell of intense fighting between the two factions; soon NSCN(Issak-Muivah) leaders and cadres — of which Issak Swu was the chairman — were driven out of Myanmar bases by Khaplang’s men.

While NSCN(IM) signed a ceasefire agreement with New Delhi in 1997, Khaplang’s men continued their hostilities until 2001 when they, too, signed a ceasefire agreement. But, this did not stop the fighting between the two groups, who continuously extorted residents of Nagaland for money. Khaplang was allegedly using this money to support the Naga villages fighting the Myanmar Army, from Myanmar-side of the border.

Khaplang, who was known as baba by his cadres and local people was almost seen as a God figure in the area.

In 2015, New Delhi opened up peace negotiations with NSCN(IM) and the ‘Framework Agreement’ was signed on August 3, 2015, between the two entities.

Over the years, Khaplang’s group saw several splits including the departure of his trusted friend Konyak who is now with NSCN(IM). Just when it felt like Khaplang was losing importance in the north-eastern insurgency, he played his master stroke.

He helped the Paresh Barua-led faction of ULFA, a rebel group, and other smaller rebel groups of north-east India to set up bases in Taga. His strong Chinese- and Kachin-links helped him to run a huge arms network.

Khaplang also founded United National Liberation Front of Western South Asia (UNLFWSA), an umbrella organisation of north-east rebel groups, which has carried out several operations in Assam, Nagaland, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh, since 2015.

Now that he is no more, the Indian security establishment is trying to map out and draw up a strategy to seize the opportunity.

Internal strife has been a part NSCN(K)’s history with Khaplang’s demise there is a greater possibility of yet another split in the rebel group. If it happens, it will not only harm the unity of the north-east rebel group but also add to New Delhi’s advantage.

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