FEB 11, 2026 (TBL): The NSCN (IM) termed the Litan incident as “scorched-earth tactics” of Kuki militants and Indian security forces, stating that nothing could be further from the truth than the picture presented by Kuki frontal bodies on the Litan burning issue.
In a statement, the NSCN said the complicity of the security forces is simply appalling. It stated that what began as Kuki drunkards beating up a Tangkhul was used as a pretext by Kuki militants to establish collusion with the security forces to target Tangkhul houses. Security forces were allegedly seen joining the Kuki militants, with some using masks to hide their faces.
“Everything is made to look loud and clear that the Kuki militants enjoyed the patronage of the security forces with the green signal from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. It was, therefore, a premeditated arson committed by the Kuki militants against the Tangkhul Naga,” the NSCN (IM) stated.
In a typically twisted manner of using the incident, the statement said Kuki organisations jumped into the fray to play the victim card, blaming the Tangkhuls with NSCN support for the burning of Kuki houses. The so-called World Kuki-Zo Intellectual Council (WKZIC) was also accused of writing to the Prime Minister of India, portraying the Kukis as victims at the hands of the Tangkhuls and NSCN. The actual issue, the statement alleged, is a “breach of the rule of law” by Indian security forces assisting Kuki militants in the burning of Tangkhul houses, terming it a grave violation of human rights.
The statement further said that in the face of what it described as brute aggression against Tangkhuls in Litan, the NSCN has put on record the Litan burning issue as a symbol of aggression against the Naga nation, allegedly using Kuki militants as a frontal body of the Government of India against the political rights of the Nagas. The NSCN added that it would stand its ground to defend what it termed the God-given land of the Naga nation.
