Imphal, January 04 01 2010: Unless the Government of Manipur translates the assurances given by it on 11 out of 13 demands into action, the Apunba Lup has no other option but to continue the agitation, the Working Committee of the Apunba Lup (WCAL) today announced.

A press release issued by the WCAL stated that the Apunba Lup had talks with the Government of Manipur four times with regard to the July 23 incident of Khwairamband market.

During the third round of the talks, the government had assured of fulfilling 11 of the 13 demands put forward by the Apunba Lup.

The government representatives had then said that the demands of resignation of the Chief Minister or removing the Home portfolio from the Chief Minister and two other demands related with the DGP could not be granted.

Otherwise the remaining 11 demands would be granted, they had said, recalled the press release.

However, during the fourth round of the talks held on January 1, the representatives of the government, namely Works Minister K Ranjit, Education Minister L Jayentakumar and MLA Dr Kh Loken informed the Apunba Lup that the government would not be able to tranlate the assurances given by them on 11 demands into reality as the case would be investigated by the CBI.

The 11 demands which the government had earlier agreed to fulfill included suspension of Additional SP Imphal West, enlarging the Agarwal inquiry commission, booking the commandos presently under suspension, etc.

The government representatives said that it would be sub judice if the government takes action on the 11 demands now that the CBI would be investigating the case anyway, the press release narrated.

However, on consultation with legal experts in regard to the reply of the government, they informed the Apunba Lup that there was no question of sub judice when the government takes necessary actions on the particular 11 demands.

The CBI's investigation has got nothing to do with the government taking action on the said 11 demands.

Now, the Apunba Lup has requested the Senior Citizens' Society, which has been taking the role of mediator, to convey the advice given by the legal experts to the Government of Manipur.

If the Government of Manipur agrees to take a concrete stand on granting the 11 demands as it had earlier assured of, then a settlement is expected to arrive at between the Government of Manipur and the Apunba Lup along with two JACs and three student organisations, the press release said.

But in case the government does not agree to fulfill the 11 demands, the Apunba Lup has no other option to but to continue the agitation, the press release added.

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