NSCN-K aims at religious conversion, demographic consolidation, Arunachal government tells UAPA tribunal

The Arunachal Pradesh government told an Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) tribunal recently that the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K), a banned outfit which seeks merger of Naga-dominated areas in India and Myanmar, seeks to “convert people to Christianity” in order to have a “homogenous society for a common cause”.

A UAPA tribunal on March 19 upheld a Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) notification of September 22, 2025 to declare the NSCN-K an unlawful association under the UAPA, 1967 for another five years. The group was involved in the June 4, 2015 ambush of an Army convoy in Manipur in which 18 Army personnel were killed.

In its deposition, the Arunachal Pradesh government said that other than the forceful conversion of locals to Christianity, the group intends to “bring all the sub-tribes under one banner Tangsang-Naga” and “this is indicative of a deeper conspiracy to create homogenous demographic structure”.

The outfit is active in the Tirap, Changlang and Longding (TCL) districts of Arunachal Pradesh. The State government did not depose on these lines before the tribunal that was set up in 2015, when the outfit was banned first.

It added that the group indulges in unlawful interference in electoral process, drug trafficking and has established hideouts/camps in the three districts to attack/ambush security force personnel.

Named after its leader S.S. Khaplang who died in Myanmar in 2017, the NSCN-K was formed in January 1990 after a split from the parent group – the National Socialist Council of Nagaland — in 1988. The latter is now known as the NSCN (Isak-Muivah) and is in peace talks with the government since 1997. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had declared a reward of ₹17 lakh for Khaplang’s arrest for executing the ambush on the Army convoy.

The NSCN-K faction had also entered into a ceasefire agreement with the Union government in 2001, which the outfit unilaterally abrogated on March 27, 2015. The NSCN-K was initially banned for five years in 2020, which was extended for another five years in 2025.

The Ministry informed the tribunal that in the past five years, NSCN-K factions were involved in 29 incidents of violence, in which 18 deaths and injuries to 16 security personnel and civilians occurred; 71 cases were registered with chargesheets filed in 56 cases and 35 cadres were prosecuted or convicted during this period. Eighty-five cadres were arrested, 69 cadres surrendered and 51 other criminal activities, including kidnappings, were reported. A large number of weapons were also recovered.

The Ministry submitted that the group reportedly has an approximate strength of 400-500 cadres with 400 weapons in Myanmar, including 50-75 Indian Naga cadres. The government/(s) of Nagaland, Manipur, and Arunachal Pradesh were consulted and they recommended that the NSCN-K be declared as an unlawful association.

The Ministry said that the group aims to create a sovereign Nagaland incorporating Naga-inhabited areas of Indo-Myanmar region by secession from the Indian Union, aligns with other unlawful associations such as the ULFA(I), PREPAK and PLA, and is involved in kidnapping for ransom and extortion of money from businessmen, government officials and other civilians. It also seeks assistance from anti-India forces in other countries to procure arms and other assistance, it added.