Won’t allow Muivah in Manipur: Ibobi govt

Muivah,who has not been to Somdal,his native village in Ukhrul district of Manipur for more than two decades now,has been permitted by the Centre to visit his home state,but the state government on Friday decided against allowing him to enter the state.

He is supposed to visit Ukhrul any day between May 3 and 10,and is scheduled to hold consultations with Naga leaders of the hill districts of Manipur on the ongoing peace talks with the government. The hill districts of Manipur,especially Ukhrul and Senapati,are dominated by the Tangkhul Naga community to which Muivah belongs. The NSCNIM) has been demanding integration of the Naga-inhabited areas of Manipur,Assam and Arunachal Pradesh in its proposed “Greater Nagalim.” “The memories of what had happened when the NDA government had extended the ceasefire with NSCN(IM) without territorial limits in June 2001 are still fresh in our mind. It is a very serious matter and the state government cannot permit him (Muivah) to enter the state,” N Biren,Sports Minister and spokesman of the Ibobi Singh government said.

The Manipur Police has set up barricades and posted security personnel at all the entry points to the state from Nagaland in order to prevent Muivah from entering the state. Pickets have been posted at Mao gate (on the inter-state border with Nagaland),Jessami,Tungjoy Tabudi and other points,sources in Imphal said.

The NSCN(IM) general secretary,who is also the “ato kilonser” (prime minister) of the underground “Government of the People’s Republic of Nagalim” has said it’s his birthright to visit his native village. “I am not subject to them (the Manipur government) and the government of India has been considerate enough to permit me to go to Ukhrul. They (the Centre) know it is my birthright to go and see my village and my hometown. There is nothing unnatural,” Muivah is said to have stated in Dimapur.