New Delhi: A top Naga leader associated with the ongoing peace talks with the Narendra Modi government has been sidelined by the members of his outfit on charges of indiscipline and financial misconduct.
Significantly, Kitovi Zhimomi, who till this past April 21, was the general secretary of the NSCN (Konyak-Kitovi) faction – also known as GPRN/NSCN – had sided with New Delhi against the NSCN (Issac-Muivah)’s strident demand for a separate flag and a constitution for the Nagas as part of a peace treaty with the Centre. Kitovi’s stand, as the convener of the Naga National Political Group (NNPG), a body comprising several breakaway factions of the NSCN, had given the earlier interlocutor of the Centre, R. N. Ravi, the much-needed heft to stick to New Delhi’s stance on one flag and one constitution for all Indians including the Nagas.
However, the leadership change at GPRN/NSCN this Sunday suggests that the NSCN (I-M), the primary signatory to the peace talks with the Modi government and whose demand for a separate flag and a constitution had led to a stalemate in the talks, has achieved an upper hand on the matter.
According to local news reports, Kitovi was ‘impeached’ at an ‘extraordinary emergency National Assembly meeting’ of GPRN/NSCN at its designated camp in the Khehoi area of Nagaland on April 21. “Sources also disclosed that following the removal of Kitovi as the ato kilonser (general secretary), the GPRN/NSCN unanimously elected Alezo Venuh as the next ato kilonser,” reported the Nagaland Post. Venuh was sworn in at the camp on April 23.
A signed document circulating on social media since the meeting had ended, has accused Kitovi of “authoritarian complexities”, “huge financial liabilities”, “lack of interest”, “incompetency” and being “dictatorial and autocratic”.
The document also stated that GPRN/NSCN would stay committed to the peace talks with the Centre and would not swerve from the ‘agreed position’ of the NNPG signed in November 2017 for ‘one solution’ to the Naga political issue.
Though Kitovi has been widely seen in Nagaland as ‘pro-New Delhi’, The Wire’s joint investigation on Pegasus in 2021 had revealed that his personal number was among thousands of phone numbers entered into a system for targeting with the deadly spyware. The Israeli firm that produces the spyware, the NGO Group Technologies, has gone on record stating that it sells Pegasus only to governments of various countries.
On contacted by The Wire then, Kitovi had refused to comment on the matter. Phone numbers of four top leaders of the NSCN (I-M) were also featured in the leaked data.
