Sunil Karam, president of the United Committee Manipur (UCM), said on Thursday that the people would not remain silent if the State’s integrity and unity were compromised as a result of the final accord likely to be signed between the Union government and the NSCN(IM). He accused the Centre of trying time and again to drive a wedge among different communities that had been living in harmony.
Mr. Karam and other activists paid tribute to 18 persons who died on June 18, 2001 while protesting against the addition of the phrase, ‘without territorial limits’, to the statement issued by the NSCN(IM) and the Indian government at the end of a meeting in Bangkok on June 14, 2001. The statement came after the two sides agreed to extend the ceasefire by one more year. The ceasefire was meant to cover the Naga-inhabited areas in Manipur and Assam, where the NSCN(IM) had bases.
As curfew and flag marches taken out by the Army had failed to restore normality, the government withdrew the phrase. The UCM was formed thereafter with the aim of protecting Manipur’s territorial integrity.
Mr. Karam said Manipur could not be split or autonomy could not be given on ethnic lines. The Sixth Schedule or a similar provision could not be extended to the State, he argued. Though several leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had given such an assurance, there was a fear that the State’s territory and authority might be whittled away, he said.
