NewsGate Press Network

The date 22nd of October 2025 marked as a historic day for Thuingaleng Muivah, the former Naga rebel leader and chief of National Socialist Council of Nagaland when he returned to his native village in Manipur’s Ukhrul district.

This is his first visit to his village after a gap of 50 years.

Muivah was accompanied by his wife Pakahao Muivah, flew in by helicopter from Dimapur and landed at Bakshi Ground in Hungpung, Ukhrul, where he received a grand welcome.

According to various media reports from the north east, thousands of people gathered to greet him with cheers and a standing ovation as the veteran Naga leader waved warmly at the crowd.

The 91-year-old Muivah has played a pivotal role in the Naga autonomy movement.

He will be visiting his native village of Somdal on Wednesday, nearly 50 years after he joined the Naga movement in the mid-1960s.

Muivah is one of the founding leaders of the NSCN, a Naga rebel group formed on January 31, 1980.

The NSCN later split into two factions: the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang) (NSCN-K), led by SS Khaplang, and the NSCN (I-M), led by Isak Chisi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah.

The split within the outfit occured in April 1988 after witnessing differences over the issue of initiating dialogue with the Indian government.

In 2015 Muivah faction of the NSCN had signed the historic peace agreement with Modi government.