Meet with Patil waste of time: Apunba Lup

Apunba Lup, the apex body of 32 agitating groups in the state, today said its meeting with Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil had been a &#14...

Apunba Lup, the apex body of 32 agitating groups in the state, today said its meeting with Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil had been a ‘‘wastage of time and energy’’ and blamed the Centre and state government for passing the buck to each other on resolving the crisis.

The statement came within hours of Patil flying out of Imphal after meeting members of the Apunba Lup, MPs and leaders of the state. ‘‘While the state government was so long claiming it was the Centre that could take a final decision, Home Minister Patil yesterday clearly tried to pass the responsibility to the state government,’’ said L. Umakanta, spokesman of the Apunba Lup. ‘‘This reflects how serious Delhi is on issues pertaining to the North-East.’’

Umakanta said the Apunba Lup was ‘‘totally dissatisfied’’. ‘‘It was a wastage of time and energy. He simply did not want to discuss or listen,’’ he said. Only last night, he had stormed out of Raj Bhavan after a 15-minute audience with Patil.

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The Apunba Lup held a marathon four-hour meeting today to discuss its position after Patil’s visit and said it would finalise its next phase of agitation after considering the views of different sections of the public.

‘‘It is a people’s movement and nobody should mix up this agitation with insurgency,’’ Umakanta said, referring to Chief Minister’s Okram Ibobi Singh’s repeated statements that the agitation against the AFSPA is backed by insurgent groups.

Besides, three student bodies of the state — All Manipur Students’ Union, Democratic Students’ Association of Manipur and Manipuri Students’ Federation — today said they would draw up a separate agitational programme for school and college students without disrupting their studies. ‘‘We will consult students as well as guardians on this issue,’’ a spokesman said.