Centre extends ban on Nagaland's NSCN-K for five years

Representative Photo

The Centre on Monday extended the ban on the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang) (NSCN-K), along with all its factions, wings and front organisations, for another five years over its involvement in activities “prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India.” The ban will come into effect on September 28, a Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) notification said.

The government observed that NSCN-K has declared its aim of creating a “sovereign Nagaland” by seceding from the Union of India and incorporating Naga-inhabited areas of the Indo-Myanmar region. It has also “aligned itself with other unlawful associations like the United Liberation Front of Asom (Independent) [ULFA (I)], People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) and People’s Liberation Army (PLA),” the notification stated.

According to the MHA, the outfit has indulged in extortion, kidnappings for ransom, and possession of illegal arms and ammunition, besides obtaining support from anti-India forces abroad. “Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (37 of 1967), (hereinafter referred to as the said Act), the central government hereby declares the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang) [NSCN (K)] along with all its factions, wings and front organisations as an unlawful association,” the notification said.

Between September 28, 2020, and April 30, 2025, NSCN-K cadres were involved in multiple unlawful activities, the MHA noted. These include 71 registered cases with 56 chargesheets filed and 35 prosecutions completed, along with 51 other criminal activities. In the same period, 85 cadres were arrested, 69 surrendered, and 13 were killed in action by security forces. Security agencies also recovered 69 arms, 52 magazines, 931 live rounds, 10 grenades, 150 detonators, explosives, an IED and other war-like stores.

The home ministry said the governments of Nagaland, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh had also recommended the ban. It observed: “The aforesaid activities of NSCN (K) are detrimental to the sovereignty and integrity of India and if these are not immediately curbed and controlled, the NSCN (K) may further regroup and rearm itself, expand its cadres, procure sophisticated weapons, cause loss of lives of civilians and security forces and thereby accelerate its anti-national activities.”

It added that “for the reasons aforesaid, the NSCN (K) together with its factions, wings and front organisations, is an unlawful association.”

The notification further said: “Accordingly, in exercise of the powers conferred by the proviso to sub-section (3) of section 3 of the said Act, hereby directs that this notification shall, subject to any order that may be made under section 4 of the said Act, have immediate effect from the 28th September, 2025 for a period of five years.”

NSCN-K has remained banned for decades, with the designation extended every five years. The group’s founder and longtime leader, S.S. Khaplang, a Myanmarese Naga, died in 2017. The outfit is now run by his deputies, while its rival faction, the NSCN-IM, continues peace talks with the Centre to seek a resolution to Nagaland’s decades-old insurgency.

*With Agency Inputs