Advance BJP team proceed to Delhi to seek appointment with PM, HM under 'talk shadow'
All pol parties delegation likely to head to Delhi today
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, October 25 2019: Ahead of an all political parties team, a team of BJP leaders left Imphal for New Delhi today to fix appointments with Central leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The all political parties delegation is expected to proceed to Delhi tomorrow.

The all political parties delegation will present the case of Manipur to the Government of India particularly Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah with regard to the Indo-Naga peace talk and its solution.

Advance BJP team proceed to Delhi to seek appointment with PM, HM under 'talk shadow'

The all political parties delegation will also take a memorandum drafted by a drafting sub-committee comprising representatives of different political parties.

Till the time of filing this report, the advance team of State BJP leaders was waiting for appointments with the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister.

This being Diwali season, most of the Ministers are busy and as such getting appointments is hard.

According to the memorandum, a copy of which is available at the office of The Sangai Express, the time frame of October 31 is too short a period to afford any meaningful consultation with the stake holders, an assurance given by the Government of India on a number of occasions in the past.

Notably, Nagaland Governor and Interlocutor RN Ravi announced through media that the Government of India has set October 31 as the deadline for all Naga insurgent groups including NSCN-IM to sign the peace accord.

A meeting of all the political parties in Manipur was held on October 22 with the Chief Minister in the chair.

The meeting resolved to send a joint delegation of all the political parties in Manipur to submit a memorandum to the Central leadership on Naga peace accord so that any territorial or non-territorial resolution framework should not impinge on Manipur and the sanctity of its pristine territorial, administrative and political integrity, the memorandum mentioned.

It categorically asserted that any peace accord should not compromise in any way the territorial, administrative and political integrity of Manipur.

The geo-political condition of Manipur with hill areas comprising 92 per cent of the total geographical territory while the valley constitutes just 8 per cent scarcely warrants any administrative dispensation which will fracture the existing composite administrative and political set up as such a dispensation would not be viable.

The accord should not therefore impinge on the same, it explained.

Since the very beginning of the Indo-Naga confrontation, Manipur has been at the receiving end of illegal taxation and extortion from the Naga insurgent groups particularly NSCN-IM.

The same has been intensified after ceasefire pacts were signed between the Government of India and Naga insurgents as the same was in vogue under cover of the ceasefire, the memorandum pointed out.

Manipur State has suffered loss of thousands of crores of rupees over a period of more than 50 years.

The Government of India needs to consider seriously about adequately compensating Manipur for the same, it said.

The Central Government should also guarantee that such extortions and illegal taxations by the Naga insurgents on Manipur bound vehicles would not be allowed in future.

The memorandum also asserted that the peace accord in its final form should not affect in any way the composite nature of Manipuri culture featuring its unique characteristic of unity in diversity.

It pointed out that the Manipur Legislative Assembly adopted 12 resolutions in as many sessions held during the period from March 1995 to July 2018, urging the Government of India to protect the integrity of Manipur.

Consultation with the State Government of Manipur as a major and critical stake holder prior to the signing of the Naga peace agreement is imperative, the memorandum reiterated.

Reminding that the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, in its 213th Report on the security situation in the North Eastern States of India presented to Rajya Sabha on July 19, 2018 and tabled before the Lok Sabha on the same day, stressed that any agreement that may finally be arrived at must allay the fears of the stake holders and the State Governments concerned must be kept abreast with the emerging dynamics of the talks, the memorandum urged that the spirit of accommodation envisaged in the particular report should be adhered to.

The memorandum further urged the Government of India to consider all its points on priority and ensure consultation with the delegation of all political parties and the Government of Manipur before October 31 .