RPF chief unmasks 'hidden agenda' behind peace-talks
Source: Hueiyen News Service

Imphal, February 24, 2014: Irengbam Chaoren, the supremo of the proscribed Revolutionary People's Front (RPF) has categorically asserted that 'peace-talks and ceasefire' which are often termed as 'dialogue' between armed groups and the Indian Government have been used as an instrument to shield their hidden agenda to confuse the 'oppressed masses' in the name of peace and prosperity in the North East region.

In his message to the people on the eve of 35th raising day of RPF (Independence Demand Day), Chaoren said, "Our history testifies Manipur was a self-reliant independent political entity which has today been enslaved by India's colonialism.

As the contradiction becomes more and more eminent, the fight against colonialism is a historical necessity for the Manipuris and has reached a ripening level today.

The onus that lies with the people of Manipur is to be consolidated and enhanced further as the global opinion is wrapped in deliberate denial diplomacy towards India's colonial ambitions in our region".

Chaoren went on to say that "the time is ripe to bring home a conclusive understanding that the tall claims of ushering in peace in the State of Manipur would nowhere result in securing the people's complete freedom and independence.

The peace model that is being designed for the people by the Government of India is going to give neither independence nor freedom; it is a mere attempt to reduce our historical and political questions to something confined to governance and employment.

Such an explication is nothing but to sustain India's colonial apparatuses�.

"The notorious Indian regime would not give us freedom and independence so easily.

It is an unmasked truth that India's design to deal with the people's struggle has been following two policies.

On the one hand, they honk of peace-talks and dialogue, and on the other hand, they also blatantly increase militarization of the region.

This twin process is a complete story of India's long-term strategy to subjugate and wipe out the revolutionary movement of Manipuris," said the RPF leader, adding, "One of the glaring examples is the deceitful trapping of several armed organisations which were once on a collective path to liberate our region in the name of peace-talks.

The irony is rampant as the revolutionaries are increasingly wooed and lured to peace-talks with evident consequences of betrayal and our own deviation from the core cause of liberation".

The RPF supremo further said, "There must be no confusion that stronger and sustained armed struggle can only ensure our independence for which we need to prepare ourselves for a massive armed movement with higher knowledge of people's war strategies.

To free ourselves from the Indian colonial yoke, our oppressed masses must wake up to this revolutionary call and be prepared for decisive show down".

On the alleged methods adopted by the Indian Government in dealing the North East region, the RPF chief said the complexity of 'our world' under the colonial circumstances and conditions has increased over the years as new forms and strategies of occupation have been seeping in.

"May it be economy, culture or technology, all have continuously affected our revolutionary realities.

The impact is so extensive that it has jeopardized inter-community affinities and displaced our organicity.

However, we continue to uphold that it is only the ongoing armed struggle that can stop this onslaught of colonial forces that has taken multiple shapes and structures.

Therefore, in this time of deliberating a historical responsibility, all the oppressed as a class must play a revolutionary role by joining the movement," Chaoren said.

He went on to assert that the onset of economic decline of Manipuris began immediately after the Anglo-Manipuri War of 1891.The British imperialism started to produce a dependent economy by uprooting agriculture and dismantling all productive bases.

The imperial encounter proved very costly for the Manipuris as hill areas were kept under their control along with the destruction of sites where salt was found abundantly.

Not only this, in the wake of World War II, Manipuris were made bonded war labourers.

The present condition as experienced after India's annexation of Manipur is no different from what was faced during the British imperialism.

Chaoren then said underdevelopment of Manipur in particular and North East India in general are justified in the name of region's geography and poor connectivity with outside world.

He said the region is yet to witness any substantial growth in terms of establishing manufacturing units.

"In the name of Military Civic Action (MCA) programmes, full scale attempt has been made to diffuse people's collective aspirations by unjustly luring women, orphans and children mainly those who belong to weaker strata of our society.

Militarization of civil spaces has become a reality for Manipuris today.

It is a matter of serious concern to see people from some quarters of media fraternity positively responding to government's call to generate a better relationship between media and police.

If we fail to understand the autonomy and freedom of media, media shall too become one among many endangered sites of our Manipuri life world," Chaoren stated.

"Therefore, the challenges before our revolutionary journey is not one but many.

Our longing for a fully liberated new Manipur constitutes the core of our political vision and struggle.

It would be sheer waste of time to look for a solution within the ambit of India's Constitution.

As long as our political practices are confined to India's constitutional paradigm, our mandates will continue to be divided, ethnicised, and animosity rampant.

Our revolutionary determination is to protect Manipuris from further dissection on ethnic, communal and hill-valley lines so as to bring about a sustainable and unified armed struggle," Chaoren added to conclude his message.

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