"Kitovi rose from the ashes," summed up G Naga, a longtime admirer of Naga rebel leader N Kitovi Zhimomi and the delegation leader that signed ceasefire extension pact in Delhi on April 11, 2025 (Friday)
“Today we are enjoying the fruits of the 16 pt agreement. And who can deny this? However, what will we leave for the upcoming generations, our children and their children? It is high time for us to take a decisive step, and today is the right time to act for the future of the younger generation.
“Today we are enjoying the fruits of the 16 pt agreement. And who can deny this? However, what will we leave for the upcoming generations, our children and their children? It is high time for us to take a decisive step, and today is the right time to act for the future of the younger generation.
We must forge a new political arrangement for them,” said Kitovi Zhimomi in his maiden formal address in the Khehoyi camp since the GPRN/NSCN split into two factions in April 2024.
The occasion was the ‘Reunion Programme,’ held on April 16, Wednesday in the GPRN/NSCN’s Council Headquarters, marking the return of Zhimomi, and what was termed to be rejoining of forces between formerly separated comrades.
He retook the camp in a bloodless takeover on March 22, 11 months after he was impeached and subsequently ousted, as his detractors had claimed.
But in the entire process, he has shown he is gutsy rebel leader and knows the art of guerrilla warfare pretty well.
In his speech, he seems to have made a right mix of sagacity along with political maturity and also being a practical statesman.
He said that the Nagas, and as such the Indo-Naga political imbroglio, was nearing a resolution when he was illegally removed from the post of Ato Kilonser, and expelled from the GPRN/NSCN.
“We were coming close to resolution but were derailed by a plot that resulted in my unjustified expulsion from the GPRN/NSCN. It was nothing less than an illegal coup. An Ato Kilonser cannot simply be impeached,” he argued.
He held that what transpired in the ‘National Tatar Hoho’ on April 21, 2024, in the Khehoyi camp stemmed directly from his opposition to an inconsistent budget statement for 2022-2023.
According to Kitovi, the frequent power struggle in the Naga political movement has compelled the Naga army to take a firm stand against internal bickering in the civil/political setup.
“We have had enough of bloodshed. There have been so many killings connected to the Naga political struggle, yet this violence has not resolved the fundamental issues,” he said.
“It is high time for us to translate our vision into reality, and today presents the right opportunity to begin. We must revisit our past,” he said, while stating that there cannot be stability when the people are unhappy.
Kitovi later addressed a press conference where he re-encapsulated his speech at the programme. He was asked if he would accept the Neokpao-Alezo camp if the latter decided to join him. He retorted, “This you ask them. I did not expel them, they expelled me.”
He claimed that more than 300 personnel have switched over to his side since April 2024.
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