Mizoram: NSCN-IM expresses grief over former Governor Swaraj Kaushal’s demise

KOHIMA: Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN-IM) General Secretary Thuingaleng Muivah on Saturday deeply condoled the death of former Mizoram governor Swaraj Kaushal, who passed away at the age of 73. 

Kaushal passed away on Thursday. The departed senior lawyer was the husband of former Union Minister Late Sushma Swaraj and father of BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj.

The NSCN-IM leader, in a statement on Saturday, said he was "deeply saddened" by the demise of former Indian Interlocutor to the Naga peace talks, Kaushal.

Kaushal was a renowned lawyer and politician who was held in high regard by both Indians and Nagas, Muviah said.

Muivah, the key negotiator in the Naga peace talks with the Union government since the NSCN-IM entered into a ceasefire in 1997, said that Kaushal took an active part during the peace negotiations with the Mizo National Front (MNF), which led to the signing of the Mizoram Accord in 1986, and was an expert in affairs of the Northeast region of India.

He (Swaraj Kaushal) was the first official interlocutor to engage in peace talks with the NSCN in 1998 in Bangkok (Thailand) during the Premiership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, NSCN-IM supremo said.

"I still vividly remember what he said during one of our meetings in 1998, "Wherever they (the NSCN) are, we observe ceasefire, even abroad. Yes, very definitely. It covers Delhi and even Paris. After all, it is not that they will be killing each other in a particular area and discussing peace in another area. What is required is a conducive atmosphere for a discussion," the nonagenarian Naga leader said.

He said: "Prior to his (Kaushal's) appointment as Interlocutor, I, along with my NSCN teammates, had met Indian leaders including P.V. Narasimha Rao, Rajesh Pilot, H.D. Deve Gowda, Satish Chandra, and N.N. Vohra between 1995 and 1997. I last met Swaraj Kaushal in October 2020 in New Delhi and had a candid conversation with him. He was a very rational man with a deep understanding of the Naga political issue." (IANS)

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