The week-long homecoming of National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah after six decades concluded on Wednesday with a massive reception in his honour at Senapati town in Manipur, where the veteran leader reaffirmed the primacy of the “Naga national flag and Naga national constitution” in any future settlement of the Indo-Naga political issue.

Muivah’s “politically significant and emotional” visit began on October 22 with a hero’s welcome in Ukhrul before he proceeded to his native village Somdal, where he stayed for a week. Thousands gathered in Senapati on Wednesday to bid farewell as he departed for Dimapur.

As in Ukhrul, students and cultural groups formed a human chain along the 1.5-km stretch from the helipad to the Senapati Stadium, waving the Naga flag as the town was festooned with hoardings and banners welcoming him.

The civic reception, organised by the United Naga Council (UNC) and hosted by the Naga People’s Organisation (NPO), drew people from across all Naga-inhabited districts of Manipur. Muivah, 90, received a standing ovation from the crowd waving the Naga flag.

His eight-page speech, read out by V.S. Atem, “deputy prime minister” of the Government of the People’s Republic of Nagalim (GPRN), thanked the gathering for “acknowledging and responding positively” to the NSCN (I-M)’s political efforts in its ongoing peace talks with the Centre. The NSCN (I-M), the most influential Naga insurgent group, has been in negotiations with the Indian government since 1997.

Reasserting the group’s long-held position, Muivah said: “The only honourable negotiated political agreement shall be according to the letter and spirit of the Amsterdam Joint Communiqué (2002) and the Framework Agreement (2015), which recognise Nagalim’s unique history, sovereignty, territory, national flag and national constitution.”

He added: “The Naga national flag and the Naga national constitution are non-negotiable. They form the sole basis for any settlement — past, present or future.”

Accusing the Centre of “betraying” the spirit of the Framework Agreement, Muivah warned that the NSCN (I-M) and the Naga people “shall defend and stand firm for our unique history and sovereignty to the last, come what may.”

UNC secretary A.C. Thotso described the event as “a historic reaffirmation of Naga peoplehood and unity” under the slogan Kuknalim, ehich translates to “victory to Nagalim.”