The retraction follows a sharp backlash over comments questioning Jamir’s authority to speak on the Naga political issue, with the Ao Senden warning that it would take its “own course of action” if the remarks were not withdrawn.
BY PC Bureau
October 6: Under mounting pressure from the Ao community, two senior NSCN (IM) leaders on Tuesday withdrew remarks they had made against former Nagaland chief minister Dr S.C.amir, saying they had never intended to hurt the sentiments of the Ao Senden, the apex body of the Ao community.
The retraction came on the final day of a 15-day deadline set by the Ao Senden, which had warned that it would take its “own course of action” if the remarks were not withdrawn.
The episode marks a significant climbdown by the NSCN (IM) in a dispute that had quickly moved beyond criticism of an individual and touched a sensitive question in Naga politics: who has the legitimacy to speak on the decades-old political issue and whether that right can be denied to a former chief minister who was a key figure in the history of the Naga settlement process.
In a joint declaration, Lt Gen (Retd) VS Atem, Vice Chairman and AEM Deputy Ato Kilonser of the NSCN (IM), and Rh Raising, NC Special Emissary to the Collective Leadership, NSCN/GPRN, said:
“If our comments on September 16, 2026 on Dr SC Jamir have hurt the sentiment of the Ao Senden, it was never meant to do so and therefore, we do retract it forthright.”
The controversy erupted after Jamir, 95, the last surviving signatory of the 16-Point Agreement, met RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat in New Delhi on September 10 and subsequently spoke about the Naga political issue.
Jamir’s intervention drew a sharp response from the NSCN (IM). At a consultation in Chümoukedima on September 16 between the Political Affairs Committee of the Nagaland Legislative Assembly, led by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, and the NSCN (IM), Atem said Jamir was neither “mandated” nor “authorised” to speak on the Naga political issue.
Raising went further, saying Jamir was “not an advocate of the Naga people” and had no right to comment on the matter.
The remarks immediately generated political and tribal sensitivities. On September 18, NPF Secretary General Achumbemo Kikon described Jamir as “an old man in a hurry.”
The sharper response, however, came from the Ao Senden.
On September 23, the organisation, led by president Marsanen Imsong and general secretary Imtipokyim, condemned the remarks as “disparaging” and rejected the suggestion that Jamir had no right to speak on the Naga issue.
The Ao Senden maintained that any Naga with an understanding of the political situation was entitled to express an opinion. It gave Atem and Raising 15 days to retract their remarks and warned that it would take its “own course of action” if they failed to do so.
The organisation also reaffirmed sovereignty as the “sole aim and legitimate aspiration” of the Nagas.
The deadline put the NSCN (IM) leadership in a politically difficult position. A refusal to retract could have turned a dispute over Jamir into a broader confrontation with the Ao community and potentially deepened divisions among Naga groups at a time when efforts to find a political settlement remain unresolved.
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The October 6 declaration appears to have been aimed at drawing a line under that confrontation without directly revisiting the NSCN (IM)’s substantive position on Jamir’s intervention.
For the Ao Senden, however, the episode has reinforced a larger point: the Naga political question cannot be treated as the exclusive preserve of any single organisation or group.
