Another group on Ibobi peacelist

Imphal, May 13 : The Okram Ibobi Singh government has added another militant outfit in the list of armed outfits willing to hold talks with the government, taking the number of such groups to 21.

The latest addition is the Azad faction of the Peoples United Liberation Front (PULF).

A source said the group sent a delegation of a civil society group to chief minister Ibobi Singh, who is also the home minister, to express its willingness to enter the peace process.

“The chief minister welcomed the move,” the source said.

The government is considering the proposal and is likely to send a response very soon.

The PULF — its members mostly drawn from the Muslim community of Manipur, known as Meitei Pangals — came into existence after over 100 Muslims were killed in a clash with Meiteis in 1993.

The united PULF was known to operate under the command of Basir Laskar, who was gunned down by Assam Rifle troops in 2006.

After Laskar’s death, the outfit broke into several factions.

Intelligence agencies in the state are trying to find out if the factions have any link with international jihadis. But so far there is no concrete evidence to suggest any link, the source said.

The PULF (Azad) confirmed that it was waiting for the government’s response.

Earlier, the Kangleipak Communist Party (Military Council) responded positively to the call for negotiations and had a round of talks with Ibobi Singh.

The Manipur government has already made some headway with 19 other non-Naga tribal militant groups, which have conglomerated under two umbrella organisations — the Kuki National Organisation and the United Peoples Front.

They signed the ground rules in Delhi on August 22. 

The latest round of talks between the joint monitoring group, headed by additional chief secretary (home) D.S. Poonia, and the two umbrella organisations was held on May 8 in Imphal.

They discussed setting up designated camps, for which the Centre has provided Rs 50 lakh.

The camps will be ready in three months, an official source said.

Two rebels killed

Two militants were gunned down and three others, who were on their way to abduct a government official, were apprehended in separate incidents in Manipur over the past 24 hours.

Police said troops of the Assam Rifles gunned down two militants in an encounter at Lamlayang under Tengnoupal police station in Chandel district this morning. Two 9mm pistols and four live rounds were recovered from them. 

The identities of the militants and the group are yet to be established.

In another incident, police commandos arrested three cadres of the United National Liberation Front from Yaiskul in Imphal West yesterday.

A 9mm pistol, five live rounds and a motorcycle were recovered from the trio, identified as Naorem Nicholas alias Nanao, Leishangthem Romeo alias Romi and Sanasam Ibohanbi Singh.

The police said the three were coming to abduct a government official residing in the locality. The cadres were remanded in five days’ police custody by an Imphal court today.

Manipur shifts trade hub a second time

People take out a procession against the project in Imphal East. File picture

Imphal, March 20 : Stiff opposition from farmers and landowners has forced the Okram Ibobi Singh government to shift the ambitious industrial hub project for the second time.

The Ibobi Singh government had selected the prime agricultural land at Chingarel Tejpur in Imphal East to set up the Rs 500-crore project last year. However, farmers and landowners of the area rose as one against the project.

Earlier, the state government chose Napet Pali, also in the same district, for the industrial hub but it had to shift the project at Chingarel Tejpur following opposition from farmers and landowners there.

Industries minister Yumkham Erabot Singh today admitted on the floor of the House that the government was reviewing the decision to set up the hub at Chingarel Tejpur and it was looking for an alternative site.

“It was previously decided to locate it at Chingaren, but the decision is now under review,” the minister told the Assembly replying to a question from Opposition member Ng. Bijoy Singh.

The decision to relocate the project came after the nearly 30,000 farmers and landowners from more than 10 villages had threatened to boycott Lok Sabha elections if the government failed to pull out of the project from their agriculture land.

The farmers also threatened to shed their blood to protect their land.

At a meeting held on February 7 the farmers asked the Ibobi Singh government to move the project or face boycott of Lok Sabha elections. Almost all the civil society bodies based in the valley have supported the farmers’ opposition to the project.

Responding to a demand for setting up of the hub on non-agricultural land, Erabot Singh said he would try not to touch agricultural land this time, but added that if enough land was not found the government would have to use some agricultural land.

“There is no forest land in the valley. There is hardly any empty non-agricultural land in the valley area. So we will have to use some of the agriculture land while setting up of the project,” the minister said.

Conceived in 1999, the project complete with school, playground, canteen, healthcare facilities and shopping centres requires 215 hectares of land.

The Centre gave its approval in the same year. Initially the project cost was fixed at only Rs 3 crore.

But now it has escalated to Rs 500 crore.

The minister said some MLAs offered land in their constituencies for setting up of the project. He said no site was selected till now. “We will have to look into feasibility of the project site,” he said.

Relief camps for migrants

Imphal, March 3 : Three migrant murders in the past 48 hours have prompted the Okram Ibobi Singh government to consider opening relief camps for settlers even though all police stations have been put on a red alert.

A barber, a juice vendor and labourer — all three from Bihar — were gunned down by unidentified assailants in Imphal West since Saturday, with the last attack being reported around 8pm last night.

“We are considering opening relief centres for the migrant workers if the situation worsens. If any migrant requests the government for a safer place to live, we are ready to open at least four temporary camps for them in secured areas of the city,” a senior police official said. 

Since the migrants work in places where the government may find it difficult to provide security, the next best thing would be to set up camps.

No one, however, has approached the government till now. The government had opened relief camps in March last year when gunmen killed 15 migrants. 

The police headquarters gave instructions to deputy inspector-generals of police, commanding officers of IRB, Manipur Rifles and district superintendents of police, to step up security measures.

“We are tightening security in places where migrants are concentrated. We have asked the police officers to enforce night curfew strictly,” the official said. 

Gunshots pierced the curfew when the unidentified assailants attacked Sajivan Bahadur, a labourer, in his house in Chingamakha locality at 8 last night.

Night curfew — from 6pm to 6am — was imposed last month to contain unruly protesters after the killing of sub-divisional officer Thingnam Kishan, his driver Rajen Sharma and chainman Token Singh by cadres of the NSCN(I-M). 

The other two attacks, on the barber and the juice vendor, took place during the day.

A youth walked into a saloon on the outskirts of Imphal city on Saturday, asked for a haircut, and then shot dead one of the barbers.

Barbers in and around Imphal kept their shutters down for the second consecutive day today to protest the killing.

After yesterday’s audacious murder of a juice seller in a market, most settlers did not venture out of their houses today or remained within Imphal city, which is already heavily fortified.

Manipur Teachers threaten to shun exams

Imphal, Feb 12 : The teachers of all government higher secondary schools today issued an ultimatum to Manipur chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh to revoke suspension orders against the eight teachers or face boycott of three important upcoming examinations.

“We demand that the government revoke the suspension orders by February 20. If the government fails to reinstate the teachers, we will boycott the forthcoming school examinations,” the spokesman for the All Government Higher Secondary Lecturers’ Welfare Association, N. Devendra Singh, told the media today.

The Ibobi Singh government suspended eight teachers, including six principals, last month on charges of preventing the students from participating in the Republic Day celebrations. 

Of the eight teachers, police arrested seven.

The court of the chief judicial magistrate, Imphal, M. Padmeshore Singh, released the teachers on bail on January 30. 

The teachers’ threat came a day after the students of higher secondary schools began an agitation yesterday demanding immediate revocation of the suspension orders. 

The students of six government higher secondary schools today held a sit-in at C.C. Higher Secondary School in Imphal East today.

“The teachers faced serious threats and they highlighted their plight. Taking action against the teachers instead of considering the threat perception is nothing but victimisation of the teachers who faced threats of physical harm,” Devendra Singh said. 

A general body meeting of the association yesterday reviewed the situation. 

“We do not blame the chief minister and the education minister. The suspension orders were issued following false information provided by the education director and joint director Th. Iboyaima,” Devendra Singh said.

The teachers said they would wait for the government’s response till February 20. “If the government does not revoke the suspension orders by the deadline, the general body of our association will meet the next day. It will take a final decision on boycott of the examinations,” Devendra Singh said. 

Final examinations of Classes XI, XII and matriculation examinations will start simultaneously from February 27. “If the situation prevails, it will affect the performances of the students,” Devendra Singh said.