Manipur Peace Pact With Oldest Armed Group: UNLF’s Activities to Amit Shah’s ‘Historic Milestone’ | Explained

The Government of India and Government of Manipur on Wednesday signed a historic peace agreement with the United National Liberation Front (UNLF), the oldest valley-based armed group of Manipur, in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said Prime Minister Modi-led government’s relentless efforts to establish permanent peace in the Northeast have added a new chapter of fulfilment with the signing of the agreement.

“The peace agreement signed today with the UNLF by the Government of India and the Government of Manipur marks the end of a six-decade-long armed movement. It is a landmark achievement in realising Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of all-inclusive development and providing a better future to the youths in Northeast India," Shah said in an X (formerly Twitter) post.

“UNLF, the oldest valley-based armed group of Manipur has agreed to renounce violence and join the mainstream. I welcome them to the democratic processes and wish them all the best in their journey on the path of peace and progress," he wrote.

A look at the developments that led to the peace pact:

Manipur has over 40 insurgent groups, but a large number of them have been lying low for a long time following their signing of separate suspension of operation agreements with the central government.

FOUNDED IN 1964

The UNLF was founded on November 24, 1964, and its armed wing Manipur People’s Army (MPA) was formed on February 9, 1987.

In 1991, the UNLF picked up arms, and its first armed action against security forces was carried on December 15, 1991, at Lamdan on a CRPF Convoy.

EXTORTION TO ATTACKING THE ARMY

• In 2005, the strength of the MPA was estimated to be about 2,000 armed cadres, which rose to 3,000 by 2019.
• According to the UNLF, by 2005, the UNLF was engaged in a battle against about 50,000 armed personnel from the Indian Army, that are deployed against the organisation in the forest regions of Manipur.
• The cadres of the group are drawn largely from the Meiteis and the Pangals communities.
• The UNLF is known to be heavily involved with extortion, arms trading, and income-generating projects to finance their armed movements. They have several training camps near the Indo-Myanmar border and neighbouring Myanmar and Bangladesh.

PART OF POWERFUL GROUPING

The grouping to which the UNLF belongs, CorCom (Coordination Committee), is itself a powerful body of seven rebel groups of Manipur’s Imphal Valley that operates from the soil of Myanmar in coordination with other rebel groups from the Northeast.

It has close ties with another coalition called the United National Liberation Front of Western South East Asia (UNLFWSEA) which was formed by NSCN(K), KLO and the anti-talks factions of ULFA and NDFB in 2015.

ACTION BEGAN IN NOVEMBER 2019

Former chairman of the UNLF Rajkumar Meghen, alias Sana Yaima (son of the soil), was whisked away to Delhi by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) soon after he stepped out of jail in Guwahati more than a week ago.

‘READY FOR PEACE TALKS’

In November 2021, after Paresh Baruah-led United Liberation Front of Assam- Independent (ULFA-I), the UNLF declared its motion on peace talks with the central government on the ‘Sovereign Manipur’ issue.

On the occasion of UNLF’s foundation day, the rebel group announced that they are ready to start a dialogue for ‘peace’ if the government is honest in its concern and commitment. A statement made by UNLF central committee said, “If the Government of India is honest in its concern and commitment, and that the issue of lost sovereignty of Manipur is put on the agenda, UNLF is more than willing to start a dialogue for ‘Peace’."

UNLF, MPA BANNED THIS MONTH

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) banned nine Meitei extremist groups and their associate organisations, which mostly operate in Manipur, for their anti-national activities, and launching fatal attacks on security forces. The groups included the UNLF and its armed wing MPA. Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. They want the ST status, as they blame their problems on the “large-scale illegal immigration" from Myanmar and Bangladesh. The tribals, which include Nagas and Kukis, constitute 40 per cent and reside mostly in the hill districts. The Kukis are against the inclusion of Meiteis in the ST communities of Manipur as they fear that they would lose their job opportunities and other affirmative actions to the Meiteis, who are much advanced, educated and better represented in business and politics.

CM’s CONFIRMATION

On November 26, Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh said his government was holding talks with an Imphal Valley-based insurgent group, and a peace accord will be signed soon. Speaking to PTI-Video, Singh said the talks were at an advanced stage, even though he stayed away from naming the underground organisation.

“We are advancing, and we are expecting to sign a peace accord with one big UG (underground organisation) very shortly," the chief minister said.

This was for the first time that there was an official confirmation about such talks being held by the government, since ethnic violence broke out in the state on May 3.

More than 180 people have been killed since the violence broke out in May after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.

Shah arrived in violence-hit Manipur’s capital Imphal and held multiple rounds of meetings with Chief Minister N Biren Singh and the state cabinet. The Home Minister met the Governor, and the state security advisor, listened to all parties involved and came up with the “peace theory".

In July, the video of two women from Kuki community being paraded naked and sexually assaulted in Manipur sparked further outrage, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that “he is pained and his heart was filled with anger". The disturbing incident recorded on video took placed on May 4 in Kangpokpi district, but went viral on July 19, when the internet ban was lifted. The viral video brought the ethnic clashes, schisms and tribal divide in Manipur into focus. While in August, Singh said restoration of peace and normalcy is of paramount importance in the ethnic-strife torn state, the following month External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar said that efforts were on to bring back a sense of normalcy in Manipur.