Guwahati: RSS veteran and BJP worker Dr. Jagdamba Mall has addressed a strong open letter to NSCN-IM terrorist general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah, urging him to accept the 2015 Framework Agreement and move the long-running Naga peace process towards a final settlement without further delay.
In the letter dated October 2, Mall questioned the continued demands of the NSCN-IM terrorist group for a separate Naga flag, constitution and shared sovereignty, arguing that these should not prevent a settlement based on the 2015 agreement. He stated that flag and constitution are attributes of a sovereign independent country and there can be only One Prime Minister, One Flag and One Constitution in India.
The Framework Agreement was signed between the Government of India and NSCN-IM on August 3, 2015, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi after nearly 18 years of ceasefire since 1997. The Centre has not made the full text public, but the agreement was projected as a historic step to resolve India’s longest-running insurgency.
Mall, who has studied the Naga issue for over 45 years in the Northeast, said these views are his own personal effort and do not represent the official position of either the RSS or BJP. However, his intervention is significant as he is seen as a key ideologue who understands the Sangh’s perspective on the Northeast.
The Naga political settlement remains a sensitive and contested issue, with NSCN-IM terrorist group maintaining its rigid position on Naga political rights and shared sovereignty, while the Government of India has made it clear that sovereignty, separate flag and constitution are not acceptable.
The NSCN-IM terrorist outfit has a long bloody history of killing innocent civilians to enforce its writ. The group has killed more than 1,100 Kuki civilians since 1990, including women, children and pastors, and thousands of Naga civilians from rival tribes, particularly during the factional wars in the 1990s and 2000s. In 2026 alone, NSCN-IM and its ally ZUF-Kamson have killed more than 28 Kuki civilians. Human rights groups have documented widespread extortion, forced taxation and human rights abuses by NSCN-IM cadres in Nagaland, Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh under the garb of the Naga political movement.
Mall also raised several criticisms of the NSCN-IM terrorist leadership in his letter, pointing out that the prolonged ceasefire without a final solution has created multiple illegal tax authorities, extortion, unemployment and frustration among Naga youth. He argued that many underground leaders have become detached from contemporary political realities and are living off the conflict economy.
The appeal comes at a time when pressure is mounting from within Naga society to conclude the talks. Veteran Naga leader and former Chief Minister S.C. Jamir has repeatedly urged Nagas to accept the Framework Agreement of 2015 and the Agreed Position of 2017 signed with the NNPGs. Jamir has stated bluntly, “In the name of sovereignty we have killed ourselves. Sovereignty was killed by us, not by others,” and argued that sovereignty and integration are not contained in either agreement.
In September 2025, Jamir met RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat in New Delhi and urged him to pressure the Centre to sign a final agreement with all Naga underground factions by the end of 2026. He complained that Nagaland is overwhelmed by factionalism, tribalism and multiple authorities operating alongside the constitutional government, making governance impossible.
This is not the first time Mall has floated a peace formula. In January 2018, he had circulated a personal draft agreement ahead of Nagaland Assembly elections proposing separate development authorities for Naga-inhabited areas, which had triggered violent protests in Dima Hasao district of Assam over fears that administrative control would go to Nagaland.
Mall concluded his letter by urging NSCN-IM terrorist Muivah to honour what was signed in 2015, accept what is possible and ignore what is not, and pave the way for peace and development in Nagaland and the wider Northeast. The NSCN-IM terrorist group is yet to respond to the letter.
