Manipur Continues to Burn
Separatists keep state under siege:
Imphal, Dec 20: Separatist rebel armies continue to keep Manipur under siege, leading to a sense of hopelessness among large sections of the state’s 2.3 million people.
Manipur, bordering Myanmar, is the only state in India’s restive Northeast where none of the frontline separatist groups has entered into a ceasefire with the government as a prelude to the beginning of peace talks.
“People’s frustration over continued violence in the state is increasingly getting reflected through plays and literature where the underlying theme is against violence and the quest for peace,” said Pradip Phanjoubam, editor of Imphal Free Press, a local English daily.
Analysts attribute several reasons for the growth and sustenance of insurgency in Manipur.
“An ineffective civil society initiative towards brokering peace, the locational advantage that the rebels have by way of the area’s proximity to Myanmar, and a nexus between the insurgents and politicians are some of the reasons why insurgency is thriving in Manipur,” said Wasbir Hussain, director of the Guwahati-based Centre for Development and Peace Studies.
Militant groups seem to be involved in violent activities with impunity.
On Monday, a day after a landmine blew up a packed passenger bus near Imphal, killing seven passengers and injuring 25 others, a rebel group simply regretted the incident while admitting its fighters had planted the explosive on the road.
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said in a statement the bomb was planted two days before Sunday’s incident to target security personnel. Lily Leima, a spokesman of the rebel group, said ‘enemies’ picked up two of its cadres who had planted the bomb but did not remove the explosive deliberately to defame the group.
Statements or reasoning like these are what the rebel groups make to justify their violent acts. The bus bombing was the biggest incident in Manipur involving civilians in recent years.
Major groups like the PLA, United National Liberation Front (UNLF), People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) and the Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) continue to be belligerent, showing no signs of entering a peace mode as some rebel groups did in adjoining Nagaland or Asom states.
The only success the government has achieved is bringing eight Kuki outfits under a cessation of hostility agreement in October 2005. This agreement has been subsequently renewed.
However, the Kuki groups are ragtag formations, if anything, and their entering a truce with the government has not really brought down the level of insurgency-related violence in the state.
The sustained counterinsurgency operations have at best been a deterrent to a more vigorous armed campaign or acts of violence by the rebels.
It is time New Delhi came up with a strategy that works in a state where the stringent Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act has been in force for more than two decades now with hardly any visible impact on the rebellions.
Source: Indo-Asian News Service (IANS)
Imphal, Dec 20: Separatist rebel armies continue to keep Manipur under siege, leading to a sense of hopelessness among large sections of the state’s 2.3 million people.
Manipur, bordering Myanmar, is the only state in India’s restive Northeast where none of the frontline separatist groups has entered into a ceasefire with the government as a prelude to the beginning of peace talks.
“People’s frustration over continued violence in the state is increasingly getting reflected through plays and literature where the underlying theme is against violence and the quest for peace,” said Pradip Phanjoubam, editor of Imphal Free Press, a local English daily.
Analysts attribute several reasons for the growth and sustenance of insurgency in Manipur.
“An ineffective civil society initiative towards brokering peace, the locational advantage that the rebels have by way of the area’s proximity to Myanmar, and a nexus between the insurgents and politicians are some of the reasons why insurgency is thriving in Manipur,” said Wasbir Hussain, director of the Guwahati-based Centre for Development and Peace Studies.
Militant groups seem to be involved in violent activities with impunity.
On Monday, a day after a landmine blew up a packed passenger bus near Imphal, killing seven passengers and injuring 25 others, a rebel group simply regretted the incident while admitting its fighters had planted the explosive on the road.
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said in a statement the bomb was planted two days before Sunday’s incident to target security personnel. Lily Leima, a spokesman of the rebel group, said ‘enemies’ picked up two of its cadres who had planted the bomb but did not remove the explosive deliberately to defame the group.
Statements or reasoning like these are what the rebel groups make to justify their violent acts. The bus bombing was the biggest incident in Manipur involving civilians in recent years.
Major groups like the PLA, United National Liberation Front (UNLF), People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) and the Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) continue to be belligerent, showing no signs of entering a peace mode as some rebel groups did in adjoining Nagaland or Asom states.
The only success the government has achieved is bringing eight Kuki outfits under a cessation of hostility agreement in October 2005. This agreement has been subsequently renewed.
However, the Kuki groups are ragtag formations, if anything, and their entering a truce with the government has not really brought down the level of insurgency-related violence in the state.
The sustained counterinsurgency operations have at best been a deterrent to a more vigorous armed campaign or acts of violence by the rebels.
It is time New Delhi came up with a strategy that works in a state where the stringent Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act has been in force for more than two decades now with hardly any visible impact on the rebellions.
Source: Indo-Asian News Service (IANS)