An NSCN-IM leader confirmed that Thuingaleng Muivah was airlifted from Camp Hebron (the outfit's headquarters) to the Referral Hospital.(File)Thuingaleng Muivah, General Secretary of the Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM), was Friday airlifted to a hospital in Dimapur following “intestinal issues”, authorities said.
The 87-year-old separatist leader, at the helm of peace talks with the Indian government for a solution to the longstanding Naga political problem, is currently admitted at the Christian Institute of Health Sciences and Research (CIHSR), also known as the Referral Hospital in Dimapur.
“It is an intestinal problem, and we are currently evaluating him. It is a bit too early to say if his condition is serious since we have not done all the tests yet,” a senior doctor at CIHSR told The Indian Express.
“He has been having some sort of abdominal distension. We just did an ultrasound. We are trying to get an X-Ray done, once all these reports are in, and the blood reports as well, we will be in a better position to comment,” the doctor said.
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An NSCN-IM leader, who did not wish to be named, also confirmed that Muivah was airlifted from Camp Hebron (the outfit’s headquarters) to the Referral Hospital. “It is true he was admitted around 5 pm on Friday but it is not that serious right now,” he said.
Last July, Muivah was admitted to the hospital after he tested positive for Covid-19.
Muivah, a Tangkhul Naga, hails from Manipur’s Ukhrul district, and had formed the NSCN in 1980, along with S S Khaplang and Isak Chishi Swu. In 1988, the NSCN split again into NSCN(IM) led by Isak and Muivah and NSCN(K) led by Khaplang. The Naga insurgency is one of the oldest insurgencies in the country.
In 1997, the NSCN(IM) entered into a ceasefire with the Indian government. In 2015, renewed negotiations for a solution to the Naga political problem began between the NSCN-IM and the Centre under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
After the death of Swu in 2016, Muivah has been leading the NSCN-IM’s talks with the Centre. While formal talks are said to have concluded in October 2019, they are yet to yield a final agreement with the NSCN-IM holding on to its demands for a separate Naga flag and Constitution.
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