Imphal, October 16: The former deputy chief minister, Dr L Chandramani, while testifying before the Upendra Commission of inquiry in connection with the June 18 incident, has said that he personally accepted that general public of Manipur were not satisfied with the MLAs and bore resentment against national leaders over the extension of the ceasefire with the NSCN (IM).

Chandramani said the unfortunate incidents of June 18 were due to the deliberate failure on the part of central government to honor the people�s voice expressed through resolutions of the state Assembly and also by the public in Manipur.

Referring to the burning of the Assembly and chief minister�s secretariat and other government buildings, he said it was due to the people�s thinking that the said buildings were no longer justified as their decisions were not honored by the Central government.

He further justified that the incident of June 18 was extraordinary and was not a matter of law and order problem.

It was a result of mass and spontaneous movement of angry people who were deeply anguished with the central government, he said.

Earlier, he stated that he along with most politicians were against the disintegration of the territory of Manipur from the very beginning.

He maintained that the Centre, in signing the Bangkok agreement of June 14 for extending the ceasefire without consulting any of the political parties of Manipur had ignored the resolutions adopted by the state Assembly as well as the assurances given by the Central leaders in 1997.When cross examined by the counsel of the state police, he said that the interference in the integrity of the state of Manipur will affect the federal character of the Union so much as state power respecting law and order will be seriously hampered.

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