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| Sushil Kumar Shinde |
Imphal, Feb 10 : Two umbrella
organisations of Kuki militant groups having suspension of operations
agreement with the Centre and Manipur government are getting “restive”
over the delay in starting political dialogue and may even boycott the
Congress candidate for the Lok Sabha elections in Manipur.
The 20 militant groups, under the United
Peoples Front (UPF) and Kuki National Organisation (KNO), had signed a
tripartite peace agreement on August 22, 2008, and are staying at
various designated camps since then, awaiting the beginning of political
dialogue.
“The groups are unhappy because of the
delay in initiating the talks. They are planning to boycott the Congress
candidate in the Outer Manipur parliamentary constituency if the
interlocutor for the Kuki talks is not appointed before the Lok Sabha
elections,” a source close to the groups told The Telegraph.
A team of the two umbrella organisations
led by Aaron Kipgen — the general secretary of the Kuki National Front
and convener of the UPF — is now camping in New Delhi to meet Union home
minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and other Congress leaders, including
party vice-president Rahul Gandhi and Luizinho Faleiro, general
secretary in-charge of the Northeast, to seek the start of talks.
The team will submit a joint memorandum
signed by the chairman of the United Peoples Front, S. Thangboi Kipgen,
and the president of the Kuki National Organisation, P.S. Haokip, to the
Union home minister.
The groups are fighting for a separate Kuki state.
The source said the New Delhi trip came
after a joint working group of the two organisations recently resolved
to work together on common issues and ask the Centre and the state
government to begin political dialogue.
“The UPF and KNO expressed strong
dissatisfaction over the way the Kuki political issue has been neglected
by the Centre till today,” the source said.
The fresh demand followed the beginning of
political talks by the Manipur government with the Naga organisations
over the demand for an alternative arrangement for Nagas living in
Manipur. A four-member political delegation led by commerce and
industries minister Govindas Konthoujam talked to representatives of the
United Naga Council and Committee for Alternative Arrangement at
Senapati district headquarters on Thursday.
In the earlier six rounds of talks,
bureaucrats represented the state government. Officials of the Union
home ministry were always present during all the talks.
After the talks, the United Naga Council termed the outcome as positive.
Last year, the UPF had threatened to review the suspension of operations agreement for the delay in start of political dialogue.