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Manipur : Left seeks normality

	July 25, 2005

The Left parties which are supporting the Manmohan Singh Government from outside, have asked the Centre to restore normality and ensure that essential commodities reach Manipur in view of the blockade imposed by a Naga student organisation that has snapped all communication links.



In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, leaders of four Left parties sought Delhi’s intervention to end the impasse and extend full security and protection to National Highways 39 and 53 as well as restore road and other modes of communication.



The letter was signed by CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat, his CPI counterpart A.B. Bardhan, Debabrata Biswas (Forward Bloc) and Abani Roy (RSP).

“It is as if the people of Manipur are in a state of siege”, the Left leaders pointed out. The CPI is a partner in the Ibobi Singh coalition.



Veteran NE leader to negotiate

Rajya Sabha MP and veteran Naga leader Rishang Keishing has resumed his role as an emissary for negotiations between agitating Naga students and Manipur Governor S.S. Sidhu.

Keishing, a former chief minister, met the Governor at the Raj Bhavan and briefed him on the progress of the peace mission. The MP informed the governor that he had established contact with the leaders of the student organisation, adding that there were positive signs.

Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh as well as Sidhu had requested Keishing to play the role of an interlocutor after leaders of the All Naga Students Association of Manipur (ANSAM) rejected repeated appeals by Ibobi Singh.

“I am hopeful that the student leaders would agree to talk to the Governor”, Keishing said after meeting Sidhu. The Governor is very keen to resolve the problem.

ANSAM has imposed an indefinite economic blockade on the state’s two national highways for more than a month, demanding withdrawal of the general holiday declared by the Ibobi Singh government on June 18 as state integrity day.

As the fallout of the blockade, there is scarcity of almost all essential commodities in Manipur. Naga students burned down several government offices and blockade supporters destroyed a vital bridge along National Highway 53, snapping the road link between Imphal and Silchar.

“I spoke to some ANSAM leaders over telephone and urged them to talk to the Governor. They expressed their willingness but maintained that they would first hold a meeting and take a decision. They will inform me about their decision very soon”, Keishing told mediapersons.

The former chief minister said he would make all possible efforts to persuade the students to talk to the Chief Minister as well. We should find a way out of the present crisis. I told the students that there is nothing wrong in meeting the two, because one is a representative of the Centre and the other is the head of the state government”, he said.

Reacting to the destruction of the bridge on National Highway 53, Keishing said: “I told the students to abstain from such violent activities. I also told them that this is wrong. If such activities continue, things will go out of control. The Centre will intervene and they would be booked.”

Keishing said reconstruction of the Irang bridge would take at least four days.

In a related development, Church bodies joined the chorus of appeals to the government and Ansam to find an amicable solution. Archbishop House, Imphal, urged both sides to settle the present impasse without delay.

The United Committee, Manipur, on the other hand, has demanded the resignation of the Ibobi Singh government for failing to take action against the protesters. The group, however, appealed to all sections of people to maintain peace and not disturb communal harmony.

According to some reports, 51 trucks carrying fuel, cooking gas and other commodities arrived in imphal last week with security escorts along National Highway 39. An official source hoped that supply would resume along the National Highway 53 once the bridge reconstruction was completed.