Eighty-six-year-old Isak Chishi Swu, chairman of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim, went to his eternal rest on 28 June not with a gun in his hand but assured thoughts of peace in Nagaland and overall welfare of its people. It is a pity that after sacrificing his entire life for the cause of Naga sovereignty, he did not live to see the realisation of his dream.

However, it will be a mistake to suggest that after Swu&’s death the ongoing peace talks with the Centre will be in jeopardy. There is the able and articulate general secretary Th Muivah to take the Naga issue to its logical conclusion. In any case it is Muivah who does most of the talking and at many a meeting with central leaders Swu had been conspicuous by his absence. In fact, Swu at one point of time had been away from Nagaland for several months giving rise to suspicion of there being a rift between him and Muivah. Swu, however, had been a keen observer of what was happening within the organisation.

In May 2006 he came down heavily on NSCN(IM) cadres who failed to live up to revolutionary ideals. He said, “Indiscipline, self-righteousness and immorality among party members have eaten into the very foundation of the NSCN(IM)” and called for “introspection among fellow comrades and see who they were in reality in relation to the people and nation”. That was a harsh comment on cadres who had behaved “superciliously” while collecting “taxes” from the public in Tuensang.

The Modi government cannot take the credit for breaking the jinx in Naga talks by signing the 3 August “framework” peace accord with the NSCN(IM) leadership. The failure to make public the deal&’s contents itself suggests the accord was a panic reaction to Swu&’s admission to hospital a few days earlier.

The main objective was to secure Swu&’s signature in advance, because in the NSCN(IM) setup, he was the Naga (Sema) from Nagaland, while Muivah is from Manipur&’s Ukhrul district and the breakaway faction leader SS Khaplang is a Hemi Naga from Myanmar. Now the big question is who after Swu. And hopefully the Centre will not trip over the “framework” deal while hammering out a lasting solution. An early solution is desirable and will be an advantage for the ageing Naga leadership. Swu is the second rebel Naga leader the state has lost after Angami Zapu Phizo, the Naga National Council president, who first fired the Nagas’ imagination for independence.