The National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah faction) has alleged that the Arunachal Pradesh government is acting against the interests of the Naga people and has warned of “unpleasant incidents” in the state.

The Naga armed group alleged that Chief Minister Pema Khandu and Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein have failed to “fulfil the wishes of the Naga people of the TCL districts of Arunachal Pradesh”. The TCL districts refer to the administrative regions of Tirap, Changlang and Longding, which are located in the south-eastern part of the state.

“Thus, unpleasant incidents would be borne by themselves as they deliberately ignored the outcry of the Nagas in Arunachal Pradesh,” the NSCN (I-M) said. “The long patience of positive response of the NSCN/GPRN cannot be considered as weakness...”

The GPRN refers to Government of the People’s Republic of Nagalim, which is a parallel government in the Naga-dominated regions of North East run by the armed group.

The NSCN (I-M) added that Naga MLAs who do not support the organisation’s stand will be “treated as anti-national”.

In September, the organisation gave a diktat to the MLAs of the TCL districts to withdraw support to the Arunachal Pradesh government due to the removal of the “Naga” designation of some ethnic groups in the region, The Hindu reported.

In August, Parliament had passed the (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which introduced this change. The Bill stated that ethnic groups referred to as “any other Naga tribe” will be known by their individual names such as Nocte, Tangsa and Tutsa.