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An era has ended – not merely because a distinguished elder has passed, but because a rare moral presence has fallen silent. Niketu Iralu lived simply, sought little for himself, and yet touched an extraordinary range of lives.

In a society too often pulled by faction, fear and vested interest, he restored conscience to public conversation. He reminded us that the future of the Naga people would depend not only on what we demand from others, but on what we are willing to examine, confess, forgive and change within ourselves.

A life formed by history – transformed by faith

Born in Khonoma, in 1935, to Dr Sevilie Iralu and Vituno Iralu, Niketu grew up close to the upheavals of modern Naga history. His family knew political suspicion and suffering; his father was imprisoned despite not being politically active. After pre-university studies in Shillong, he attended Madras Christian College. There, in 1955, he encountered Moral Re-Armament – now Initiatives of Change – and two years later left college to serve the movement full-time. 

That choice became the direction of his life: more than six decades devoted to the inner work from which social healing must begin.

His peace was never passivity. It was the difficult discipline of truth, restitution, forgiveness and reconciliation. He had seen the wounds of conflict too closely to romanticise them, yet he refused cynicism. He believed political settlements mattered, but also knew that no agreement could heal a people who had not learned again to trust, listen and accept shared responsibility.

The man everyone called ‘Uncle’

The most fitting public title he received was not an award or office. It was “Uncle Niketu”. Young people, church workers, political leaders, activists, scholars and ordinary citizens addressed him so because he was approachable. He could challenge without humiliating and disagree without making an enemy. People left him........

© The Wire