Rio asks NSCN (IM), NNPGs to unite under FNR for Naga talks with Centre

Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio has urged the NSCN (IM) and the Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs) to come together on the platform of the Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR) and hold joint talks with the Government of India, saying an acceptable solution to the decades-old Naga political issue cannot be reached while groups negotiate separately.

Rio made the appeal on Saturday while inaugurating the Lhisemia Multipurpose Building at Khrabvübozou, L Khel, in Kohima village, Eastern Mirror reported. According to the official DIPR account carried by The Morung Express, he also briefed the gathering on the Protected Area Permit (PAP), the Inner Line Permit (ILP) and the Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN).

'Nagas are a family'

The Chief Minister said his party, the Naga People's Front (NPF), believes the political dialogue must include all Nagas: underground groups, civilians and organisations alike. A family, he argued, cannot reach a conclusion without sitting together.

He recalled the consultative meeting of September 12, 2024, attended by 60 organisations with 220 signatories, which had asked underground groups to stop splintering. While there are only six groups under ceasefire, there are more than 30 factions, Rio said, adding: "More factions means more taxations."

From adviser to interlocutor

That 2024 meeting had also asked the Centre to raise the peace process to the political level by appointing a minister-level interlocutor with the government's full mandate. Rio said the previous interlocutor, A.K. Mishra, was the Northeast adviser rather than a political interlocutor, and that talks under him, limited to underground factions, had produced further disarray instead of a solution.

According to Rio, the Centre replied on September 11, 2026 that talks would continue under a minister or group of ministers, and formally appointed retired IPS officer Ajit Lal as interlocutor. With that in place, he called on the NSCN (IM) and the NNPGs, which have agreed positions with the Centre, to come together under the FNR.

Indigenous status row

Rio also turned to the long-running debate over who counts as indigenous to Nagaland. He said four non-Naga tribes in the state, the Kuki, Kachari, Garo and Karbi, as well as communities such as Marwaris, Gorkhas, Bengalis and Nepalis, had migrated to Nagaland over the years, and described past issuance of indigenous certificates to some of them by officials as wrong.

Referring to cases in which Kuki, Kachari and Garo groups have approached the courts for indigenous status, he said the state government would not accept such a ruling, arguing that migrants could not become indigenous. He linked the demand to seats and quotas in higher education and scholarships, warning that widening the pool would shrink the share for indigenous Naga students, and asked village councils, which certify indigenous persons, to be careful when issuing certificates.

Community-built hall

On the building itself, Rio praised the Lhisemia community for raising the structure largely through its own contributions in cash and kind despite limited government funds, and urged other communities not to depend solely on the government. Former Chief Minister Shürhozelie Liezietsu said the land had been donated by Lhouvizolie Tsiekhanuo and his family.

The remarks come weeks after Ajit Lal's appointment, which the NSCN (IM) had welcomed. Neither the NSCN (IM) nor the NNPG Working Committee had publicly responded to the Chief Minister's latest appeal at the time of writing.