Talks on, peace deal with valley insurgent group soon, says Manipur CM Biren Singh

“Yes, we are advancing, and we are expecting to sign a peace accord with one big UG (underground organisation) very shortly,” he told new agency PTI, when asked if a peace deal with a valley-based proscribed organisation is in the pipeline.

Although he did not name the organisation, sources said it is one of the breakaway groups of the United National Liberation Front (UNLF) — the oldest of the Meitei insurgent groups. Informal talks started last year, long before the ongoing ethnic strife in the state broke out on May 3, they said.

The Chief Minister’s statement — the first official confirmation about such talks being held by the government since the ethnic violence broke out — is also significant because until now no valley-based Meitei insurgent group had ever come to an agreement with the Centre or even participated in peace talks.

Last week, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs had notified an extension of its ban under the UAPA on seven “Meitei Extremist Organizations”, which it said have the professed aim of secession of Manipur from India through armed struggle and “to incite indigenous people of Manipur for such secession”.

Biren Singh’s statement came two days after newspapers and local TV channels based in Imphal suspended their operations in protest, citing competing attempts by different factions of the UNLF to dictate terms to them. The Chief Minister said he has sought a report from the CID on the matter.

Over the past one month, police have arrested several people from different parts of the Manipur valley, who they said are active members of groups such as UNLF, KYKP and KCP. They said they were found to be involved in extortion and in possession of arms.

In September, the NIA had arrested M Anand Singh, a former cadre of the PLA, in Imphal in a case related to “transnational conspiracy by Myanmar-based leadership of terror outfits” to exploit the ethnic unrest to “wage a war against the government of India”.

In March this year, the Manipur government had made a surprise move by unilaterally withdrawing from the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement with two Kuki-Zomi insurgent groups, alleging that they were “influencing agitation among forest encroachers”.

The two groups, the Zomi Revolutionary Army and Kuki National Army, had entered into the SoO agreement with the Centre and the state in 2008 to initiate political dialogue, which would be periodically renewed.

This move added to the already brewing discontent between the Kuki-dominated regions of Manipur and the Biren Singh government, which culminated two months later in the ethnic conflict.