Churachandpur:
The Union government on Wednesday extended the 'suspension of operation' with the two dozen Zomi and Kuki armed groups in Manipur. The halt in operations was extended for the sixth time but 17 of the 23 outfits have refused to sign it demanding that talks be held immediately.
On the ground, the situation is fragile as some of the rebels have threatened to return to the jungles if the government doesn't reciprocate with dialogue.
In a Kuki militant camp near Henglep, not very far from the Myanmar's border, spokesman of the Kuki National Organisation (KNO) Seilen Haokip said, "If the government is not sincere and if suspension of operation doesn't mean dialogue, the inevitably we have to resort to other means. These guns are not for decoration, they cost a lot of money and it's an investment because it appears that memorandums and all efforts to this date have had no bearings on the government," he said.
The founder president of the Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA), K Guite, who took up arms in 1993 only to draw the attention of the government, however, says that he believes that "Indian democracy may be slow but it is firm". Interestingly, Guite and his men had actually stood beside the Indian Army and fought alongside them. They have never had an encounter with security forces unlike the Kuki groups.
The Zomis and Kukis constitute a major ethnic group in Manipur but their fractious politics have helped New Delhi delay the dialogue process. The Zomi groups have come under one umbrella outfit, the United People's Front or UPF, which has six groups demanding a non-communal autonomous hill state. On the other hand, the KNO with 17 member groups wants a separate state altogether. Ethnically, the Kukis and Zomis are the same tribe.
Another camp that lies in the Churachandpur district near the Myanmar border is the Muvanlai camp of the Zomi Revolutionary Army - one of the 23 Zomi and Kuki armed groups in Manipur who have suspended operations. In 2010, the then Home Minister P Chidambaram had visited this camp and promised to initiate talks. They are still waiting to talk.
Meanwhile, at Rs 3000 stipend a month as part of the Centre's surrender-cum-rehabilitation package, some 2500 cadres are getting restless. The government's promise of providing vocational training has also not been implemented.
Besides the danger of so-called 'peace process' getting derailed, the other concern is the presence of so many armed groups in the area. Like all groups on ceasefire, they too violate ground rules with impunity and allegedly indulge in regular extortion which they call 'donation'. Haokip admits that extortion is a reality but they are dependent on raising funds when they can neither leave the designated camps to earn money nor is the government following up with its promise of talks. "When you talk about our extortion maybe five hundred rupees here or Rs 50,000 there and that is for our sustenance because we are not getting our due," he says.
Hundreds of such soldiers across the north eastern region are ready to give up arms but the government's so-called 'peace process' appears to be just an euphemism for appeasement rather than a clearly laid out policy for peace to integrate them to mainstream and fulfil their demands.