A Naga rebel leader in India’s northeastern state returns home after five decades, in photos
Thuingaleng Muivah, leader of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah), is welcomed in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
UKHRUL, India (AP) — A helicopter descended from the clear blue sky Wednesday as thousands of people cheered the arrival of Thuingaleng Muivah, a top Naga insurgent leader, to his hometown in India’s northeastern Manipur state for the first time in five decades.
Men and women in traditional Naga attire carrying spears and wearing feathered headgear welcomed the 91-year-old Muivah in Manipur’s Ukhrul district. Schoolchildren waved the Naga flag, which has a blue background with a rainbow across the center and a white star in the top left corner.
The Naga insurgency began in the 1950s as a fight for independence. Violence has waned since a 1997 ceasefire between India and Muivah’s group, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah), but talks remain stalled over demands for a separate flag and constitution.
Muivah is currently leading peace talks with India’s federal government, seeking greater political rights for the Naga people, an Indigenous group spread across several northeastern Indian states.
Muivah left his home in 1964 to join the Naga independence movement, making only one brief return visit to his home state in 1973. His last attempt to visit his hometown in 2010 was met with a ban on his entry by the Manipur state government and triggered large-scale deadly protests.
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This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
The Naga flag flies, as people wait for the arrival of Thuingaleng Muivah, leader of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah), in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)People wait for the arrival of Thuingaleng Muivah, leader of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah), in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)A Naga, dressed in traditional attire, waits for the arrival of Thuingaleng Muivah, leader of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah), in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)A woman sits in front of a graffiti of the Naga flag, near cadres of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah) cadres in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)Nagas in traditional attire wait for the arrival of Thuingaleng Muivah, leader of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah), in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)People wave the Naga flag as a chopper arrives carrying Thuingaleng Muivah, leader of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah), in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)Thuingaleng Muivah, leader of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah), arrives in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)People greet Thuingaleng Muivah, leader of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah), as he arrives in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)Thuingaleng Muivah, leader of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah), embraces his wife upon arrival in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)Schoolchildren wait for the arrival of Thuingaleng Muivah, leader of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah), in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)People hold the Naga flag and wait to greet Thuingaleng Muivah, leader of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah), in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)Thuingaleng Muivah, leader of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah), waves to the gathering in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)Nagas attend a felicitation event for Thuingaleng Muivah, leader of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah), in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)An armed cadre National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah) stands guard as a crowd waits to greet Thuingaleng Muivah, a top Naga insurgent leader, in Somdal village, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)People look out from their door waiting for the arrival of Thuingaleng Muivah, leader of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah), in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)Armed cadres of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah) keep guard as they wait for their leader Thuingaleng Muivah in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)People wave the Naga flag and welcome Thuingaleng Muivah, leader of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah), in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)A chopper lands carrying Thuingaleng Muivah, leader of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah), in his native Somdal village, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)A Naga wearing traditional attire stands next to an armed cadre of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah) in Somdal village, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
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