“Mr Vajpayee has assured us that any step taken to resolve the five-decade old militancy in Nagaland will not be against Manipur’s interest,’’ Mr Ibobi Singh told reporters after his meeting with the Prime Minister at the latter’s residence here.
“The Prime Minister had earlier assured Parliament that any solution to the Naga problem would not lead to the disintegration of Manipur. Today he reiterated his promise,’’ the Chief Minister said.
He was accompanied by an all-party delegation from the state.
Apprehending a threat to Manipur’s territorial integrity following the Centre’s peace talks with the NSCN (IM), leaders of all political parties of Manipur led by Mr Ibobi Singh are in the capital to meet the Central leadership on the issue.
The decision to send the leaders of all political parties of Manipur was taken at a meeting of the all-party monitoring committee, presided over by the Chief Minister in Imphal on January 16.
Although the NSCN (IM) leaders had assured the Centre that it would not interfere in the February 26 Assembly poll in Nagaland and there would be no more fighting with the Centre as there was ‘’much understanding now’’ between the two sides, they were intransigent on their long-standing demand for “Greater Nagaland”.
This demand had infuriated the Manipuris who had threatened a violent agitation if the Centre decided to divide Manipur. The newly formed Manipur Forward Youth Front (MFYF) had said that more than 10,000 members of the organisation would immolate themselves if the territorial integrity of the state was redefined during the talks.
Manipur had witnessed violent demonstrations in 2001 after the Union government decided to extend the jurisdiction of its ceasefire with the NSCN (IM) to cover the Naga-inhabited areas of Manipur and other northeastern states that have sizeable Naga populations.
The NSCN (IM) had earlier demanded the creation of “Greater Nagaland” comprising the existing Nagaland and Naga-majority areas in Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
