Ukhrul, Oct. 22 -- The Somdal village in Manipur's Ukhrul district is preparing to receive , Thuingaleng Muivah, general secretary of the Isak-Muivah (I-M) faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN).

The 91-year-old Muivah has played a pivotal role in the fight for Naga autonomy. He will be visiting his native village of Somdal on Wednesday, nearly 50 years after he joined the Naga movement in the mid-1960s. Muivah is one of the founding leaders of the NSCN, a Naga rebel group formed on January 31, 1980.

The NSCN later split into two factions: the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang) (NSCN-K), led by SS Khaplang, and the NSCN (I-M), led by Isak Chisi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah. The split within the outfit ...