Naga insurgents part of Indian divide and rule plan: RPF

IMPHAL, Sep 24: On the eve of the outfit’s 32nd Raising Day to be observed tomorrow, RPF president Irengbam Chaoren has said disruptive activities and other acts perpetrated by Naga insurgents in Manipur is a part of the Divide and Rule policy devised by India.

This strategy of divide and rule is driven by the Government of India’s understanding that intensifying inter-ethnic (community) conflicts would heighten separatist feeling and this would create a mejor obstacle on the path of Manipur’s liberation movement, the RPF president said in a message delivered on the occasion of the outfit’s 32nd Raising Day.

The RPF president further said one ovious implication of the GOI’s assurance to maintian status quo of the territorial integrity of Manipur and the contradictory statement that Naga integration is considerable if there is a political consensus, is that India has been working as a midwife to ignite a communal war in Manipur.
The RPF president also said Naga insurgent’s campaign who have been joined recently by some section of the hill people of Manipur to carve out a Naga exclussive state by disintegrating Manipur will never fruit. Manipur is a collective identity of a land inhabited by different communities and ethnic groups since many centuries back. Nagas of today should not treat collective identity and territorial integrity of Manipur which was forged and consolidated much before Naga tribes came to know each other, Chaoren said in the message.

Regarding the hardships and difficulties being endured by the people of Manipur today, the RPF president said these are all by-products of prolonged subjugation by the oppressive regime of New Delhi. In the last 60 years of colonial rule in the State, New Delhi has bred more than six lakhs of unemployed people. Artificial shortage of essential commodities, bandhs and blockades, and their adverse impacts on common mass has all their roots in the misplaced policies of the Indian regime. Criminal activities, which have become a daily affair, and the present turmoil society, created most wittingly by aggravating strained relationships among different communities are also results of the present regime’s diabolic policies. Taking an overview of all these factors, our countrymen can safely conclude that as long as the repressive regime exists, Manipur can never hope for any peaceful and progressive society, Chaoren observed.

Regarding the outfit’s policy on non-Manipuris, the RPF president said the outfit can no longer afford to view their issue any lightly for their population now constitutes one-third of the total population of Manipur. Even today, their number is increasing by the day like flood water. They have been making their permanent settlements here and trying to expand their own community, the RPF president alleged.

He further said some years back, non-Manipuris were concentrated in some areas but now they spread to every nook and cranny of Manipur. They have been slowly and steadily consolidating all kinds of trade activities ranging from trades of minimum volume to the most voluminous ones. A few years hence, they would be in control of all sources of the people’s livelihood and Manipur would be reduced to subservient state where the indigenous people survive at the mercy non-local people.
On account of such possible scenario, giving shelter to the non-Manipuris who are coming with a mission to oust the indigenous people from ancestral land would tantamount to heaping an immovable load over the shoulders of our future generations, the RPF president reminded.

Manipur Government’s measures to protect non-Manipuris and confinement of non-locals who wish to go back to their native States would not go well in future. In the event of large scale killings of non-Manipuris, conflict between Manipuris and Indian people would rise to an unprecedented level. To avert any long lasting enmity between the two countries, all of us should work towards ensuring safe return of all non-Manipuris to their respective native states, the RPF president added.

He further added that no state can think of development in the absence of good and adequate transport infrastructure. If one looks at the condition of our roads and highways, none would dare claim that Manipur has taken the path to development. The sorry state of Imphal-Jiribam highway (NH 39) was exposed to the entire world when Transporters’ and Drivers’ Council decided to take NH 53 in place of NH 39. Had the Government of India been sincere to bring development in Manipur, New Delhi would have been due attention to repair and improve the existing non-serviceable highways and roads. On the other side, despite the strong persistent movement led by Dalai Lama, China has constructed Qingzang Railway in Tibet through snow covered mountainous terrain at the height of more than 16,000 feet above mean sea level, thereby providing a major impetus to economic upliftment of Tibetans. Compared to this, construction of highways or railways through the hills of Manipur would be no challenging task. In view of such attitude of India, it would be more prudent to say that the Government of India has been deliberately arresting development pace of Manipur for an economically healthy Manipur is greater threat to India, rather than crying hoarse that the revolutionary movement has been impeding development in the State.

Following construction of a slew of highways across Arunachal border trough Tibet, India has several apprehensions about the Chinese designs. Driven by these apprehensions, India is planning to construct Trans-Arunachal Highway from November this year. However, notwithstanding wish of the people to develop highways of Manipur right now, India shares no concern to develop these dilapidated and outdated highways for there is no Chinese threat on Manipur frontier and Myanmar is friendly to New Delhi. The situation demands the state government to take over highways passing through the hill territories of Manipur from BRO which is working under the Indian Defence Ministry.

The RPF declared it decision to support the joint venture of India, Myanmar and Thailand to open a tri-lateral highway (Moreh-Bagan-Mae Sot) way back in 2004. The decision was based on the understanding that the highway would facilitate development of Moreh as a transit centre, and this would not only help economic growth of Manipur but also promote new ties with South East Asian countries. Now there is another proposal for a trans-Asian highway which would start from Silchar and pass through Jiribam-Imphal-Moreh. This necessitates development of Jiribam as a modern transit centre. This means benefits enjoyed by people of other States when Dimapur was major trade centre for Manipur can be reaped by our own people of Jiribam once the border town is developed as a major transit centre. For all these reasons our people need to focus on development of the two border towns (Moreh and Jiribam) as well as the highways passing through them from now on, and ensure that there are no disturbances from any quarter.

It would be prudent on the part of our people to remember words of Myanmar Border Traders Chamber of Commerce, Secretary U Aye Ko which said border trade with Myanmar would be shifted to a border trade centre of either Mizoram or Nagaland if the disturbances caused by bandhs/blockades to border trade cannot be checked. At present too, trade activities are being hampered by imposing bandhs/blockades at Moreh and Imphal-Moreh highway. To all these, the Government of Manipur remained alert all along. As such, every people of Manipur should shoulder due responsibility to save the transit centre of Moreh our Nongpok Thong (Eastern Gate) which would play a major role in economic development of Manipur in future.

My beloved compatriots, I would like to call upon all to find out the agents and causes behind the numerous cases of criminal activities, murders and unwanted incidents related with the revolutionary movement being witnessed today. It is everybody’s knowledge that those unemployed youngsters who were given jobs as security personnel at the cost of huge bribe money are indulging in extortion, robbery and collection of money by joint hands with pseudo revolutionaries to get back the money they spent on securing their jobs.

Such anti-social activities like killing innocent civilians just for a sum of money he/she was carrying, killing retired revolutionary cadres in fake encounters, forcing drug addicts languishing in jails to lob ‘extortion bombs’ and demanding ransom after pulling up people in the name of suspect are all perpetrated with tacit support of the Government. It’s time people launch strong mass movements against the political leaders who are leading the security personnel notorious for terrorizing the mass, Chaoren added.

The innumerable Indian security forces being deployed in Manipur by New Delhi to keep the State under their colonial rule. Security forces acting as benevolent agents to Manipur people are just a temporary ploy aimed at suppressing the revolutionary movement. Their civic action programmes are baits used for luring our people. There is no guarantee that Indian security forces would not bare their fangs and unmask their ferocious identity to our people as done earlier when there were encounters with revolutionaries. Fully aware of the excessive activities and their inhuman character, Indian security forces were not given any foothold in Canada and China. One day or the other, the Indian security personnel would surely turn against our people. As such befriending them would amount to keeping venomous snakes right under own beds, the RPF president said in the message.
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The RPF president also alleged present Manipur government of misleading youth in the name of suppressing the revolutionary movement. Luring the youngsters with jobs and rewards, the Government has been sending youngsters to revolutionary groups to steal arms, weapons and documents. Not only this, the Government used these youngsters as their tool during counter insurgency operations in identifying hide-outs of revolutionary groups, Chaoren alleged and added other nefarious activities of the Government include enacting surrender dramas by using surrendered cadres, making false propaganda against revolutionary groups by using expelled cadres and forcing them to indulge in anti-social activities which can lower image of revolutionary groups in public view.

All these activities and strategies of the political leaders to weaken the tide of the revolutionary movement would never yield the desired result, the RPF president asserted and said this would rather intensify animosity amongst ourselves and may lead our people on the path fraternal killings.

The RPF president also said it is time to unite together and stand firm to save Manipur from the political leaders who have been misleading youth with the malicious intention to ignite fraternal killings, besides perpetually scheming to keep the people under the colonial rule like slaves for eternity in exchange for some benefits of their own.

The RPF president further said he felt gratified in paying respect to all my countrymen, together with offering revolutionary salute to all those brave martyrs who have laid down their lives in the course of the ongoing revolutionary movement.