Isak Chishi Swu

Isak Chishi Swu (11 November 1929 - 28 June 2016) was the chairman of the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN). He along with Thuingaleng Muivah and SS Khaplang were instrumental in the creation of NSCN on January 31, 1980 after opposing the ‘Shillong Accord’ signed by the then Naga National Council (NNC) with the Indian government. He was unable to attend the historic Naga Framework Agreement signed on August 4, 2015 due to health conditions.

Isak Chishi Swu was born in 1929 to Kushe Chishi Swu of Chishilimi Naga village in Zunheboto district of Nagaland. He belongs to Sumi Naga. He did his early education at American Mission School at Chishilimi then studied at Government High School, Kohima and graduated with Honours in Political Science from St. Anthony's College, Shillong.

Isak Chishi Swu joined the NNC in 1958 and served as the Foreign Secretary of the outfit. Under the leadership of Angami Zapu Phizo, the NNC unsuccessfully campaigned for the secession of the Naga territory from India and creation of a sovereign Naga state. After he became the foreign secretary he was later elevated to Vice President of NNC.

Isak Chishi Swu was opposed to the signing of the Shillong Accord by the then Naga National Council (NNC) with the Government of India. Following a disagreement, he along with Thuingaleng Muivah and SS Khaplang split NNC into a new faction, called the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN). It was later split again when SS Khaplang decided to part ways and created his own faction called NSCN (K) due to clan rivalries among the Konyak Naga of Nagaland and the Tangkhul Naga of Manipur.

Swu, Muivah and other top NSCN (IM) leaders escaped to Thailand in the early 1990s after a crackdown by the government of India. However, after getting a positive response for peace talk through intermediary MM Thomas, the then Governor of Nagaland, the overnment and NSCN started the peace talks. Later Prime Minister of India P V Narasimha Rao met Muivah, Swu and others in Paris on June 15, 1995. In November 1995, then MoS (Home Affairs) Rajesh Pilot met them in Bangkok. Subsequently, Prime Minister H. D. Deve Gowda met them in Zurich on February 3, 1997, which was followed by meetings with officers in Geneva and Bangkok. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee met them in Paris on September 30, 1998. The Government of India signed a ceasefire agreement with NSCN (IM) on July 25, 1997, which came into effect on August 1, 1997. Over 80 rounds of talks between the two sides were held subsequently.

After undergoing treatment for almost a year at a private hospital in South Delhi, Swu breathed his last on June 28, 2016. He was 86.