Nagaland’s voice of peace, Niketu Iralu, receives Lifetime Achievement honour

KOHIMA — Peace activist Niketu Iralu from Nagaland has been conferred the Lifetime Achiever Award 2025 by Initiatives of Change (IofC) International for his lifelong dedication to trust building in the conflict-affected region of Northeast India.

The award was announced during the IofC 2025 annual lecture and trust building awards ceremony held at the University of South Africa in Pretoria on Wednesday.

Iralu was reportedly preparing to receive the award in person but was denied a visa by South African authorities. He instead delivered his acceptance speech via video message, which was played during the ceremony.

The 90-year-old Iralu thanked the Trust Building Committee and Initiatives of Change International for honouring him with the award.

He recalled his university years at Madras Christian College in 1955 when he had encountered the ideas of Initiatives of Change (then known as Moral Re-Armament). Captivated by its mission to remake the world through personal transformation, he decided that “the greatest service I could render was to give my life to God for Him to change me.”

“With trepidation, yet with clear conviction, I decided I would do what I saw needed to be done in the crisis that had started to divide my people—not looking for success or recognition,” he said.

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Reflecting on the region’s complexities, Iralu noted that Northeast India, bordered by Tibet (China), Myanmar, and Bangladesh, is home to about 220 tribes and ethnic nationalities.

“The international boundaries were drawn in faraway Delhi by the British Empire without the knowledge of these ethnic people. In recent years, their awakened aspirations have clashed with neighbours on all sides. Unless we can create common stability for our common good, the killing fields of Southeast Asia will extend into our whole region,” he warned.

He added that the ongoing work in the region is aimed at creating such stability.

Iralu further observed, “Our work of trust building has taught us that restitution and reconciliation become possible when we go beyond seeing only where others have hurt us—and are ready to see where we, too, may have provoked them. Then forgiving and being forgiven becomes possible.”

The IofC noted that Iralu has been a voice of moral and spiritual authority and of sanity in a region long marked by strife and violence.

An IofC member, Robert N Solo, expressed disappointment over the visa denial, calling it “unfortunate and unjustified.”

 “Of all people, Niketu Iralu would never bluff or cheat others. His life’s mission has been to help people selflessly, without any vested interest. Denying him a visa makes no sense and is deeply disappointing,” Solo told Eastern Mirror, adding that he would pursue the matter further.