While the Government of Manipur represented by Agriculture minister V Hangkhanlian, Education minister Thokchom Radheshyam, Public Health Engineering minister Losii Dikho, Tribal Affairs and Hills department secretary Athem Muivah and Revenue department secretary T Ranjit Singh, it said.
In that meeting, the UNC team was represented by NC president Gaidon Kamei, general secretary S Milan, All Naga Students` Association, Manipur president Joseph Adhani and Naga Women's Union president Asha Wungnam. The UNC is the apex body of the Nagas in Manipur.
On November 1, 2016, the United Naga Council (UNC) – the apex body of the Naga community in Manipur had launched the economic blockade – in protest against the State Government’s decision to carve out new Districts from the existing nine in the State, especially from the Naga-dominated hill areas of Manipur.
The situation became so tensed and violent that the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA), on December 20, 2016, was compelled to sent around 4,000 additional paramilitary personnel to the State of Manipur, which was experiencing increasing turmoil, as violent protests and an ‘indefinite economic blockade’ on the two National Highways (Imphal-Dimapur NH 2 and Imphal-Jiribam NH 37), that serve as lifelines to the State.
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It was necessary to send additional forces, because, the Meitei dominated people of Imphal valley started a ‘counter-economic blockade’ in protest against the UNC’s economic blockade, leading to violence in the area. During the ongoing indefinite economic blockade, the State has recorded several violent incidents and a number of vehicles have been torched or vandalized by the protesters. The landlocked State has also been undergoing severe hardship in the supply of essential commodities as the main highways are blocked by protesters.
According to information available on SATP, the protests had started on October 30, 2016, after the State Government decided to upgrade the Sub-divisions of Sadar Hills and Jiribam to full-fledged Districts. The Government subsequently reversed its decision on October 31, 2016, as it was opposed by the Naga organisations who felt that the upgrade would help form more non-Naga-dominated Districts in the State.
However, on December 8, 2016, the Government surprisingly announced the creation of seven new Districts – Kangpokpi (conforming to the boundaries of the proposed Sadar Hills District and carved out from Senapati District), Noney (from Tamenglong District), Tengnoupal (from Chandel), Pherzol (from Churachandpur), Kamjong (from Ukhrul), Kakching (from Thoubal), and Jiribam (from Imphal East District).
After nearly 18 years of negotiations under ceasefire, the Government of India and NSCN-IM had signed the historic “Frame Work Agreement’ on August 3, 2015. This accord has major significance.
A release issued by the Prime Minister’s office on August 3, 2015, claimed that the Agreement would “end the oldest insurgency in the country… restore peace and pave the way for prosperity in the Northeast”, that it made an “honourable settlement” possible”, and that the “NSCN was represented by its entire collective leadership and senior leaders of various Naga tribes.”
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However, one of the major challenges to finalizing a settlement has been the issue of 'Naga integration' of all Naga dominated areas in the States neighbouring Nagaland, including Manipur.
The principal demand of NSCN-IM for a Nagalim (Greater Nagaland) comprising contiguous Naga-inhabited parts of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and some bordering areas of the neighbouring country, Myanmar, faces stiff opposition from these States, especially Manipur. The Union Government has, however, committed that it would ‘consult all the stakeholders’, including the State Government of Manipur, before reaching a final agreement.
Meanwhile, on July 15, 2016, the Union Government initiated the first round of political dialogue with Kuki militant groups – the United Peoples’ Front (UPF) and the Kuki National Organization (KNO) – in New Delhi. Satyendra Garg, Joint Secretary, UMHA, who led the central delegation, chaired the meeting, which was attended by representatives from the two militant groups and the Manipur State Government. Further, on October 19, 2016, the second round of tripartite talks was held in New Delhi and, during the dialogue, KNO and UPF reiterated their demands in the presence of the senior representative of the Manipur Government.
The issue of holding a political dialogue with Kuki militant groups has dragged on for years. The Indian Army and Kuki armed groups have observed a Suspension of Operations (SoO) since August 1, 2005. An agreement involving the UPF, KNO, the Union Government and the Manipur State Government was formally signed on August 22, 2008.
“The August 3 “FrameWork Agreement’ with NSCN (IM) is far from a conclusive resolution of the ‘Naga problem’. There are still several armed factions that will need to be accommodated before the ‘Nagaland problem’ can be said to have been ‘resolved’, and at least some of these will be tempted to escalate violence in the immediate future, partially to increase their ‘leverage’ in future negotiations, and partly to occupy the militant ‘space’ purportedly vacated by NSCN-IM’s accord,” wrote Ajay Sahni in one of his articles after this accord.