>J4joeyrod at 07:54, 12 January 2022

2022-01-12T07:54:35Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2018}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Shangwang Shangyung Khaplang
| image = NSCNK-chairman-S-S-Khaplang-at-a-camp-in-Myanmar-Rajeev-Bhattacharyya.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Khaplang at a camp in Myanmar in 2011
| birth_name = Shangwang Shangyung Khaplang
| birth_date = April {{birth year|1940}}
| birth_place = Waktham, Myanmar
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2017|6|9|1940|4|df=y}}
| death_place = Taga, [[Kachin State|Kachin]], Myanmar
| nationality = [[Burma|Burmese]]<ref>{{cite web|title=FAQ: What is NSCN-K? Who is SS Khaplang?|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/report/faq-what-is-nscn-k-who-is-ss-khaplang/20150611.htm|website=[[Rediff.com]]|access-date=9 June 2017|date=9 June 2015}}</ref>
| other_names =
| occupation =
| years_active =
| known_for =
| movement = [[Naga nationalism]]
}}

'''Shangwang Shangyung Khaplang''' (April 1940 – 9 June 2017)<ref>{{cite news|title=NSCN(K) Chief SS Khaplang passes away!|url=https://thenortheasttoday.com/breaking-nscnk-chief-ss-khaplang-passes-away/|access-date=9 June 2017|work=[[The Northeast Today]]|date=9 June 2017}}</ref> was a [[Burma|Burmese]] leader of [[National Socialist Council of Nagaland]], an [[Insurgency|insurgent group]] that operates to establish Greater Nagaland (or Nagalim), a sovereign state bringing all [[Naga people|Naga]]-inhabited areas of Myanmar and India under one administrative setup.<ref>{{cite web|title=National Socialist Council of Nagaland – Khaplang|url=http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/states/nagaland/terrorist_outfits/nscn_k.htm|website=South Asia Terrorism Portal|publisher=satp.org|access-date=10 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225052936/http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/states/nagaland/terrorist_outfits/nscn_k.htm|archive-date=25 February 2017}}</ref><ref name="ht1">{{cite web|last1=Karmakar|first1=Rahul|title=NSCN(K) leader SS Khaplang dies in Myanmar|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/nscn-k-leader-ss-khaplang-dies-in-myanmar/story-9Glpaefu30zYP8WZUqBEIL.html|work=Hindustan Times|access-date=10 June 2017|date=9 June 2017}}</ref>

== Early life ==
Khaplang was born in Waktham in April 1940, a village east of Myanmar's [[Pangsau Pass]] as the youngest of ten children. Born into [[Tangsa|Hemi Naga tribe]]<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/?id=yZ9MDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT62&lpg=PT62&dq=tangsa+naga+khaplang#v=onepage&q=tangsa%20naga%20khaplang&f=false |title = Dancing to the State: Ethnic Compulsions of the Tangsa in Assam|isbn = 9780199091270|last1 = Barkataki-Ruscheweyh|first1 = Meenaxi|date = 15 February 2018}}</ref> that lived predominantly in Myanmar, his early childhood was shaped by the opening up of isolated Naga communities by the World War II.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Swami|first1=Praveen|title=SS Khaplang, patriarch of Naga war on India, passes away|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/india/ss-khaplang-patriarch-of-naga-war-on-india-passes-away-4696877/|access-date=10 June 2017|work=The Indian Express|date=10 June 2017}}</ref> During the War, the [[Allies of World War II|Western Allies]] built the {{convert|1726|km|mi}} long [[Ledo Road|Stilwell Road]] connecting [[Ledo, Assam|Ledo]] in India's [[Assam]] to China's [[Kunming]] to carry supplies against the [[Imperial Japanese Army|Japanese Army]], that passed through Waktham.<ref name="ie1">{{cite web|last1=Kashyap|first1=Samudra Gupta|title=The Myanmar Naga who has troubled India for half a century|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/the-myanmar-naga-who-has-troubled-india-for-half-a-century/|newspaper=The Indian Express|access-date=10 June 2017|date=11 June 2015}}</ref> This was said to have "sowed the seeds of insurgency in Khaplang."<ref name="ht1"/> Khaplang claimed that he first attended a school in [[Margherita, Assam|Margherita]], a town in Assam before joining Baptist Mission School in [[Myitkyina]] in Myanmar's [[Kachin State]] in 1959, and in 1961 to another missionary school in [[Kalay]] before he eventually dropped out.<ref name="ie1"/>

==Insurgent activity==
Allegedly influenced by the events of the War during his childhood, Khaplang founded the Naga Defence Force (NDF) in 1964 to operate towards a separate sovereign state for the [[Naga people]]. In 1965, he co-founded Eastern Naga Revolutionary Council (ENRC) that he later became the vice-chairman and then the chairman of. The two organizations helped [[Naga nationalism|Naga nationalist]] leader [[Angami Zapu Phizo]]'s [[Naga National Council]] (NNC) to travel to China for weapons and training young recruits.<ref name="ht1"/> Later, the two merged with the NNC and Khaplang became its chairman in 1974. During one of these visits, he met [[Thuingaleng Muivah]], involved then with the NNC. They, along with another leader [[Isak Chishi Swu]] subsequently formed a partnership in revolting against the NNC for signing the [[Shillong Accord of 1975]] that accepted the supremacy of the [[Indian Constitution]]. They broke away and formed the [[National Socialist Council of Nagaland]] (NSCN) in 1980.<ref name="ie1"/> The NSCN became very powerful and by 1985, it was running a parallel government in Nagaland, also extending its influence to adjoining districts of the neighbouring Indian States of [[Manipur]] and [[Arunachal Pradesh]]. It was being called the 'mother of all insurgencies'.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Prabhakara|first1=M. S.|title=Mother of insurgencies or reinvention?|url=http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/Mother-of-insurgencies-or-reinvention/article14962563.ece|newspaper=The Hindu|access-date=10 June 2017|date=26 March 2011}}</ref>

However, in April 1988, the NSCN split into two factions: the NSCN-K led by Khaplang, and the NSCN-IM, led by Swu and Muivah. Khaplang had made unsuccessful assassination attempt on Muivah. By 1989, the NSCN-K had driven out all Indian Naga people from Myanmar and the NSCN-IM shifted base to Thailand. Khaplang's influence in the region spread around this time. In addition to insurgent and anti-establishment activity, he gave space to other separatist outfits such as [[United Liberation Front of Assam]] (ULFA) and [[I. K. Songbijit]]'s faction of [[National Democratic Front of Bodoland]] (NDFB (Songbijit)), [[Kamtapur Liberation Organisation]] (KLO), [[Kangleipak Communist Party]] and [[Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup]] to set up hideouts alongside the NSCN-K's headquarters.<ref name="ie1"/> While operating mostly in Nagaland, the NSCN-K subsequently made inroads into [[Changlang district|Changlang]] and [[Tirap district]]s of the neighbouring [[Arunachal Pradesh]] and later [[Assam]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Kalantri|first1=Rishu|title=NSCN-K makes inroads into Assam|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/1161219/jsp/northeast/story_125529.jsp|access-date=10 June 2017|work=[[The Telegraph (Calcutta)|The Telegraph]]|date=19 December 2016}}</ref>

On 28 April 2001, the NSCN-K signed an agreement to one-year [[ceasefire]] with the [[government of India]] starting the same day.<ref>{{cite news|title=Centre, NSCN-K declare ceasefire|url=https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-miscellaneous/tp-others/centre-nscn-k-declare-ceasefire/article27930939.ece|access-date=10 June 2017|work=[[The Hindu]]|date=29 April 2001}}</ref> Khaplang announced of abrogating the agreement in March 2015.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Sharma|first1=Anup|title=NSCN(K) splits as Khaplang calls off truce with Govt. |url=http://www.dailypioneer.com/nation/nscnk-splits-as-khaplang-calls-off-truce-with-govt.html|access-date=10 June 2017|work=[[The Pioneer (India)|The Pioneer]]|date=31 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170610080717/http://www.dailypioneer.com/nation/nscnk-splits-as-khaplang-calls-off-truce-with-govt.html|archive-date=10 June 2017}}</ref> In April, leaders of the ULFA, NDFB (Songbijit), KLO and Khaplang of the NSCN-K assembled in Taga in Myanmar to form the [[United Liberation Front of Western South East Asia]] (UNLFW) to achieve "united and total struggle" against the Indian establishment. Khaplang was chosen as the chairman.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Kalita|first1=Prabin|title=UNLFW: The new name for terror in NE|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/UNLFW-The-new-name-for-terror-in-NE/articleshow/47547899.cms|access-date=10 June 2017|work=The Times of India|date=5 June 2015}}</ref> In June, the UNLFW killed 18 personnel while injuring over a dozen others [[Indian Army]] in an [[ambush]] in [[Manipur]]'s [[Chandel district]], the deadliest on the Army since 1983.<ref>{{cite news|title=20 soldiers killed in Manipur ambush in deadliest attack on Army in 33 yrs|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/20-soldiers-killed-in-Manipur-ambush-in-deadliest-attack-on-Army-in-33-yrs/articleshow/47547738.cms|access-date=10 June 2017|work=The Times of India|date=5 June 2015}}</ref> A [[Bounty (reward)|bounty]] of {{INR}}7 [[lakh]] was declared by the [[National Investigation Agency]] for providing information on Khaplang.<ref>{{cite news|title=NIA announces Rs. 17 lakh bounty on NSCN(K) militants|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/nia-announces-rs-17-lakh-bounty-on-nscnk-militants/article7637354.ece|access-date=10 June 2017|work=The Hindu|date=10 September 2015}}</ref> In September, the [[Ministry of Home Affairs (India)|Ministry of Home Affairs]] declared NSCN-K an 'unlawful organisation' for a period of five years, under the [[Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Declaration of NSCN(K) as an unlawful organisation for a period of five years under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention), Act 1967|url=http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=126947|access-date=10 June 2017|work=[[Press Information Bureau]]|date=16 September 2015}}</ref>

==Death==
In his later life, Khaplang began to suffer from [[diabetes]] and other age-related ailments. He died of [[cardiac arrest]] on 9 June 2017 in Taga, in the [[Naga Self-Administered Zone]], [[Sagaing Region]] of [[Myanmar]], where the NSCN-K was based during the time.<ref name="ht1"/><ref>{{cite news|last1=Sarma|first1=Pankaj|last2=Jaiswal|first2=Umanand|title=Khaplang dies in Myanmar|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/1170610/jsp/frontpage/story_156124.jsp|access-date=10 June 2017|work=The Telegraph|date=10 June 2017}}</ref> It was reported that he had returned from China after a treatment and was to head to Waktham, his birthplace.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Kalita|first1=Prabin|title=Dreaded NSCN-K chief Khaplang dead|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/nscn-chief-s-s-khaplang-dies-of-prolonged-illness/articleshow/59075121.cms|access-date=10 June 2017|work=The Times of India|date=9 June 2017}}</ref> Following his death, the then Chief Minister of Nagaland [[Shurhozelie Liezietsu]] revealed that "provided issues of substance were discussed", Khaplang was willing "to have dialogue with the government". Liezietsu added that, "It is tragic that such an important Naga leader like Mr Khaplang passed away at a time when the Naga political problem is on the verge of being resolved, and the need for all different Naga political groups to come together to air our views and aspirations to the Government of India in one voice is absolutely imperative."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Kalita|first1=Prabin|title=Khaplang had expressed willingness for peace talks with govt: Nagaland CM|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/khaplang-had-expressed-willingness-for-peace-talks-with-govt-nagaland-cm/articleshow/59084645.cms|access-date=10 June 2017|work=The Times of India|date=10 June 2017}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Insurgency in Northeast India]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khaplang, S. S.}}
[[Category:1940 births]]
[[Category:2017 deaths]]
[[Category:Naga people]]
[[Category:Indian independence activists from Nagaland]]
[[Category:20th-century Burmese people]]
[[Category:Naga nationalism]]

S. S. Khaplang - Revision history

>J4joeyrod at 07:54, 12 January 2022