Imphal, Mar 17 : Manipur chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh today termed the UNLF’s plebiscite proposal a “good beginning”, but observed that it would be “difficult” for the state government and the Centre to accept the proposal as it involved a third party.
“It is a good beginning. But it would be difficult for the state government and the Centre to accept the proposal as it includes a third party involvement,” Ibobi Singh, who is also the home minister, told the Assembly today.
In 2005, the United National Liberation Front, one of the major militant groups fighting for restoration of Manipur’s “sovereignty”, came up with a plebiscite proposal responding to appeals for peace talks.
The UNLF proposed holding of a plebiscite under the United Nation’s supervision, deployment of UN peacekeepers after withdrawing the central forces, deposition of arms to the peacekeepers and handing over of political power in accordance with the results of the plebiscite.
The outfit argues that this is the most peaceful means of resolving the armed conflict in Manipur.
This is for the first time Ibobi Singh made an official statement on the proposal. Central ministers visiting Manipur, however, had outright rejected the proposal as unacceptable. The chief minister was responding to two Opposition members who raised the issue during budget discussions today.
Ibobi Singh’s statement on the issue came even as civil society organisations are campaigning for holding the plebiscite by organising meetings in various parts of the state in support of the UNLF’s proposal.
The issue was first raised in the Assembly by Morung Makunga, an Independent Naga MLA. He urged the chief minister to put forward the matter before the central leaders. “The Centre may accept or reject the proposal, but it is the duty of the state government to pass on the proposal to Delhi as part of efforts to hold talks with militant groups in the state,” Makunga said.
Supporting Makunga’s demand, leader of the Opposition in the House and former chief minister Radhabinod Koijam, welcomed the plebiscite proposal terming it a step towards democratic process.
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