By Chitra Ahanthem
(contd)
Imphal, March 06 2013: The Governor`s address at the beginning of the three day Budget session of the 10th Manipur Legislative Assembly included appealing to all armed groups to shun violence. He informed the House that this year on February 13, three insurgent groups, namely, United Revolutionary Front (URF), KCP (Lamphel) and KYKL (MDF) along with 197 cadres and 138 weapons entered into agreements with the union and state Governments, and urged all the other militant groups to shun violence and join the peace process.
“My Government along with the Union Government has signed the extension of suspension of operations agreement with the United People`s Front and has offered to sign a similar agreement with the Kuki National organization (KNO).I appeal to the KNO to come forward and extend their co-operation for bringing peace in the state,”, he said.
Imphal, March 11 2013: Four cadres of the banned outfit Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) have reportedly surrendered to Manipur Police.
New Delhi, March 11 2013: About 200 insurgents active in Manipur have surrendered before the Government and many others will follow suit in the next three months, Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde today said. One hundred and ninety-seven cadres of United Revolutionary Front (URF), Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) and two factions of Kanglei Yawal Kanna Lup (KYKL) laid down their arms on February 13 .The URF, comprising various factions of KCP and its military wing, Manipur Army (MA) have agreed to the surrender of its cadres within the next three months, Shinde told reporters here during a monthly press conference. About 80 cadres of two factions of KYKL:Athouba and Achouba will surrender over a period of three months, he said.
Imphal, March 12 2013: Conveying the formation of a Peace Talk Committee with United Revolutionary Front (URF) home secretary Puyam Ruhini as the Committee convenor, cadres of three armed groups who recently surrendered to the Government cautioned that they would resume military campaign in case the Government is non-committal to take forward the peace process.
URF`s Ruhini, KYKL (MDF) president Meisnam Athouba and KCP (Lamphel Group)`s general secretary Haobijam Dilip alias Taibanganba asserted that they would not hesitate in returning to the jungles for resuming the military offensive against the Government if the plight of the surrendered cadres is not accorded importance. Clarifying that they actually decided to join the peace process for the betterment of the entire Manipuri society and not to derive personal benefits, they also stated that based on the principle of peace and work culture as the only way for overall development of Manipur they had chosen peaceful means of settling all outstanding issues. Meanwhile, KYKL-MDF`s Athouba clarified that there is no separate group called MDF (Achouba) as both are the same person.
Imphal, March 13 2013: Dismissing the claims of Union Home Minister, Shushil Kumar Shinde, the United Revolutionary Front has asserted that it and its armed wing, the Manipur Army will never surrender. A statement issued by its publicity secretary AK Pibarel said that the Home Minister`s statement is baseless and is a propaganda to try and undermine the revolutionary movement being carried out by the outfit to regain the lost sovereignty of Manipur.
Imphal, April 01, 2013: Comparing the Indian military operating in Manipur with mafia and drug cartels, the proscribed UNLF has alleged that the recent claim of BSF about surrender of five UG cadres to them was another chapter of the fake surrender drama. In the face of huge amounts of money sanctioned by the Government of India in order to suppress the liberation movement of Manipur, officers of the Indian military posted in Manipur have been using fake surrender dramas and military civic action programmes as their most convenient instruments for amassing personal wealth, it alleged.
Imphal, April 24 2013: Self-styled chief of army of the banned Kangleipak Communist Party-MC group Nongdrenkhomba along with his six followers have through the Indian Army and the State government of Manipur entered the peace process. Disclosing this to the media at Manipur Press Club here on Wednesday, KCP-MC group`s general secretary Taibang Nganba claimed that they want to usher in an era of peace and harmony in Manipur and that the people do not trust the insurgent movement any more. He further revealed that another 30 cadres of KCP-MC will come forth and said steps will be taken up to work out modalities to start peace process between the group and the Government. Press Information Bureau, (Defence Wing), Imphal had recently claimed that three cadres of KCP-MC group of Nongdrenkhomba surrendered before 46 Assam Rifles/27 Sector of Red Shield Division on April 20-21.
Imphal, May 19 2013: Stating that the State Government has initiated several measures to bring insurgents on the path of peace, Deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam has called upon all the people not to view or treat former rebels who have laid down arms and returned to the mainstream as untouchables. Gaikhangam who is also in charge of Home Department remarked rebels coming to the path of peace in sync with changes across the world is a positive development. Informing that efforts are on to build centres to accommodate former rebels who have returned to the mainstream, Gaikhangam appealed to all the people not to view or treat the former rebels as untouchables.
Imphal, May 19 2013: Security forces of Red Shield Division recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition buried under ground in 2007 by a cadre of UPPK at the foothills of Thangjing ridge, said a PIB (DW) release that identified the UG cadre as SS Capt Moirangthem Raja alias Chingkheinganba alias Meiba of Ngankhalawai near Moirang, under Bishnupur district. Raja reportedly surrendered to security forces of the Division and helped in locating the cache which he buried in 2007 when the camps were shifted to Myanmar.The cache included four carbine machine guns, four magazines, two .22 mm revolvers, 42 rounds of 5.56 mm ammunition and two rounds of .22 mm ammunition.
Imphal, May 23 2013: The surrendered cadres of United People`s Party of Kangleipak (UPPK) are all set to sign a trilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Government and Manipur Government here tomorrow. The UPPK cadres would be led by their General Secretary Chinglemba Mangang alias Shanti, who was earlier placed under the judicial custody while Joint Secretary of Union Home Minister (NE in-charge) Shambhu Singh and Chief Secretary of the State DS Poonia would represent the Union Government and State Govt respectively. UPPK ‘sGeneral Secretary Shanti was arrested by a team of National Investigative Agency (NIA) from an Indo-Myanmar border area last year. It may be recalled that several agreements including land allotment to surrendered UGs were made yesterday during the tri-lateral talks held between the surrendered UG Groups, Manipur Government and Indian government at the office chamber of State Principal Secretary (Home). The first round of talks was held with the leaders of URF, KYKL (
MDF) and KCP (Lallumba) while the leaders of UPPK attended in the second round.
Imphal, May 24 2013: A home-coming ceremony of UPPK leaders and cadres totaling 80 in all was held today at 1st MR banquet hall during which a tripartite Me-morandum of Understanding was signed between the outfit, Government of Manipur and Government of India.Chief Minister O Ibobi who graced the ceremony as chief guest stated that the State Government would welcome with open arms if UNLF, PLA, PREPAK and KYKL come over ground and point out the failures/mistakes of the Government and possible remedies. Altogether 37 numbers of weapons brought by the UPPK cadres. Principal Secretary Suresh Babu said that New Delhi has released Rs 14 crores for necessary expenditures of the groups which have come to the path of peace. A sum of Rs 2.50 lakhs would be fix-deposited in a bank in the name of the cadres for a period of two years. They would be given month-ly stipend of Rs 4000 each. Notably, 51 cadres of UPPK were extricated from Myanmar through Tamu and Moreh on February 4 this year with the help of Assam Rifles and State police commandos. The second batch consisting of 27 cadres were extricated on March 19 through Nagaland border from the camp located at Taka in Myanmar.
Imphal, May 25 2013: Following Deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam`s assurance that surrendered KYKL-MDF cadres being accommodated in an Assam Rifles camp at Chandel would be shifted to permanent designated camps outside Chandel district as soon as possible, the Chandel District Naga-Kuki Joint Committee has suspended all types of their agitation. Gaikhangam earlier clarified that keeping surrendered KYKL-MDF cadres at Chandel is only a temporary arrangement.
Imphal, June 02 2013: Two underground activists belonging to two different outfits, namely KYKL and KCP, reportedly surrendered to Red Shield Division along with arms and ammunition yesterday, according to a statement issued by PRO Defence Wing.
Imphal, June 09 2013: Two cadres of the proscribed UNLF have reportedly laid down arms and surrendered to the forces of Red Shield Division according to a PIB Defence Wing statement, on June 7. The UNLF cadre surrendered to the Security Forces of Red Shield Division along with one point 22mm pistol and five bullets. The PIB Defence Wing statement further said that on June 8, another UNLF cadre (Army No 1376, Rank Cpl) surrendered to Assam Rifles of Red Shield Division at 1600hr with one point 22mm pistol with magazines and three rounds.
Imphal, June 10 2013: With NSCN-IM refusing to return the weapons their cadres snatched from three cadres of KNO/KNA, the latter has decided to block Imphal-Ukhrul road indefinitely with effect from 6 pm tomorrow.
Imphal, June 10 2013: Reacting against the statement of PIB (Defence Wing) over surrender of two of its alleged cadres, the United National Liberation Front (UNLF) has categorically pointed out that the report is baseless and it is the continuation of the `surrender drama` hosted by the India Army so as to promote the activities of the security forces deployed in the State. According to a statement issued by M Shak-hen of Department of Publicity of the outfit, the two alleged cadres of UNLF are no more related to the outfit any more. Moreover, the arms and ammos which were reportedly surrendered by them do not belong to UNLF, the statement clarified.
(A longer and referenced version of this text is being included in the eighth annual report of Armed Conflicts in South Asia collated and undertaken by the Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, New Delhi)