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Manipur : UNLF harps on plebiscite |
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The United National Liberation Front (UNLF), a militant outfit of Manipur, has repeated its demand for a plebiscite to end the current armed conflict in the state. It said that it was ready for a protracted armed struggle to achieve its goal to restore what it called “Manipur’s sovereignty.”
Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, during his recent Northeast tour, announced that a plebiscite is not possible. Two other central leaders former Defence Minister George Fernandes and CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta also toed the Centre’s line while addressing the media in Imphal close on the heels of Mukherjee’s statement. The central leaders were reacting to the proposal made by the UNLF that a UN-supervised plebiscite be held to end the armed conflict in Manipur.
The statement said the remarks made by the central leaders were out to dissociate our people from a plebiscite. As usual they gave more emphasis on technicalities rather than trying to understand the core issue of the conflict, particularly the human aspect.
It said the defence minister’s remark was a typical government reaction and not unexpected, but Fernandes’s comment that the Constitution would have to be amended first for holding a plebiscite was interesting.
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