Swu in Dimapur. Picture by Eastern Projections

Kohima/Pughoboto, Dec. 15: He may have charmed everyone at the reception in Dimapur yesterday, but NSCN (I-M) chairman Isak Chishi Swu and general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah left many disappointed in his hometown, Pughoboto, last week.

Swu had been invited to be a part of the celebration of a century of Christianity in the Sema tribal region and the 5,000-strong gathering seemed to have taken exception to his absence on that day.

?He has missed this centenary programme,? said an emotional Hotokhu Chishi, who hails from Chishilimi, where Swu was born.

Residents of some interior villages came to the venue in the hope of seeing Swu, who was then in New Delhi along with NSCN (I-M) general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah.

Swu spent several years in Pughoboto and it was there that he joined the Naga Movement in the early 1950s. The campaign was then spearheaded by A.Z. Phizo?s Naga National Council.

Old associates and family members had requested Swu to make changes in his itinerary, if necessary, to attend the celebration last week.

The insurgent leader is known to be a religious man and preached Christianity to guerrillas in the jungles of Myanmar in the 1960s.

?He was supposed to be present. So family members and everybody who was a part of the celebration were obviously disappointed,? said Vikheho Swu, the NSCN (I-M) leader?s nephew.Vikheho works with a human rights group.

Another resident of Pughoboto said since the insurgent leader was involved in political negotiations, he could not be expected to attend family and social functions.

Both Swu and Muivah are contemplating visiting their hometowns during their stay in Nagaland, sources said. The government is understood to have asked the Assam Rifles to arrange for a helicopter to take them to these interior areas.

Some members of Swu?s family stay in Chishilimi, while the rest are based in Zunheboto district. Muivah?s hometown is Ukhrul in Manipur. One of Swu?s brothers has come to the NSCN (I-M) council headquarters near Dimapur to meet him, Vikheho said.

Swu recently published a booklet, From Generation to Generation , about the history of the Naga community and his journeys, mainly in Myanmar. The militant leader describes Myanmar as ?Eastern Nagalim?. In the foreword, Swu asks Nagas to trace their origins in a scientific manner to find ?authentic and credible answers?.

Many of those who had gathered at the Pughoboto playground last week made up for Swu?s absence by buying copies of his book.