Militarisation no solution to conflict in state: Ibobi

IMPHAL, Dec 23: Hinting at the need for a democratic resolution to the conflict in the state, the chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh has reaffirmed his believ on the floor of the House today that militarization is not the answer to this onerous issue. He also added that this unresolved question had been a major stumbling block in every aspect of development in the state since the past many years.
The chief minister was giving his observation to the discussion on the matter of public interest raised by the senior Opposition member O Joy Singh on the issue ‘the present political conflict in the state’.
O Joy was flagging the need for creating conducinve situation so as to urge the Union government to initiate a negotiation.
The chief minister in his observation further said that the motion was very timely and welcome.
He further mentioned that from time to time the state government had taken up initiatives to control the violence and problems caused by the armed conflict in the state.
The government is well aware of the fact that arms cannot solve the existing conflicts, still the state government is forced to the increase in security strength in the state so as to enable the state government to control and maintain proper law and order.
He however added that it would be wrong to think that frequent recruitment of state forces in the state is only to increase the firepower of the state security forces. The recruitment are not always for fighting guerillas or militants in the state, but for civil purposes as well, he added.
The chief minister further said every problem must have its solution, and the state government is convinced the conflict in the state can only be solve conclusively  through dialogues with the insurgent groups.
As a matter of fact both the Centre and state government is ready for the talks or dialogue with the any insurgent group in the state at any time if they happen to approach the issue with sincerity and with full knowledge that any talk or dialogue with any insurgent groups should be under the framework of the Constitution of India, he added.
He further mentioned that it is another milestone that the state has started seeing some peace and harmony after the signing of Suspension of Operation (SoO) with Kuki underground groups under KNO and UPF.
He added it is also another positive step that one of the valley based outfit KCP (Lallumba) and KCP has approached the government for signing of a Suspension of Operation agreement to initiate tripartite talks with Government of India and the state government.
He further maintained that as of the moment a total of 121 cadres including nine leaders of KCP (Lallumba group) have approached the government for peace talks and have already surrendered 170 assorted arms and ammunitions on August 5 this year and state government is considering for their rehabilitations at present.
He further said, the state government is giving priority to solving these issues by pressuring the Centre to initiate appropriate measures to tackle the armed conflicts in the state through political means.
He also mentioned that any suggestive views from public, intellectuals to the state government on the matter are very much welcome and further appealed to the members present in the House to share their views and ideas on this.
Earlier, senior opposition member O Joy Singh while initiating the discussion on the matter mentioned that the conflict situation in the state caused by the insurgency related problems is one of the worst chronic problems of the state that has hindered the state in every aspect of developmental activities.
It was due to these conflicts which the state government is finding hard to control the increasing social disorders, he said.
Considering the deteriorating law and order in the state caused by the conflict situation it has became a must for the legislators to have thorough discussions on the issue to bring certain steps towards solving this problems, he said.
As it has been generally known that the conflict situation/ insurgency in the state is created by the existence of two opposing political thoughts, one believes in the Indian  Parliamentary System and other one is the groups who is Opposing it and instead wants total liberation from the Indian Parliament, he added.
The problem is complex, but it has to be tackled so as to bring peace and harmony in order to bring development, progress and prosperity in the state, he said. As every one knows that deteriorating situations is at a nadir today with insurgents going beyond their code of conducts indulging in unwanted killings, kidnappings, extortions lootings and fake encounters killings etc, he added.
At this juncture of time it would not be right for legislators to remain silent and something must be initiated to gain a positive result in the near future, he added.
The state health minister Ph. Parijat, MLA, Dr I Ibohalbi and MLA RK Anand were amongst other members who participated in the discussion today and observed that the issue being very delicate it need proper dealings with care by the state government.