Imphal, December 03 2008: (continued from yesterday...) .

PAINSTAKINGLY LISTING its various agenda laid out the year before, the UNLF central Committee in its statement issued on the occasion of its 44th anniversary, stated that there has been tremendous progress and public response.

Claiming that its call for Essential Self Reliance have been well received by the public, the outfit congratulated the farmers "committed to the cause of 'Self Reliance on Food' have taken up various projects (agriculture, horticulture, sericulture, fishery, etc.) to produce sufficient food so as to free Manipur from dependence on imports from India." The statement also lauded the far-sighted entrepreneurs who have taken up Small & Medium Enterprise (SME) suitable to Manipur's resources and environment, while giving special mention to the outfit's effort to empower women.

Calling upon all sections of the society to contribute their worth for the success of this economic movement, it claimed that with relentless effort, 70% of the goal for making Manipur Self Reliant on food can be attained in five years time.

The outfit further called for a stop to the utilisation of the limited agricultural land for other purposes, such as institutions, 'development infra-structures', etc.

"Such projects should be located at non agricultural land," it said, adding, "agricultural land being the lifeline of our people, the UNLF would do everything and anything to protect this lifeline" .

In its statement, the outfit also urged for timely distribution of seeds to the farmers, initiation of horticulture and animal husbandry in the hill areas where large scale agricultural farming is not suitable, and necessary facilities for marketing their products in Imphal and outside Manipur for overall improvement of the economy of the hill areas.

The UNLF statement further claimed that "the huge amount of valueless easy money (being spent for consolidating colonial rule and 'counter insurgency operations', but not investments for Manipur's economic development) but being pumped into Manipur has disoriented not only those subservient to it but also a number of revolutionary organisations".

Pointing out the ongoing trend among the revolutionary organisations to even use coercion for grabbing 'projects' (contract/supply works) and hobnobbing with MLAs/Ministers/Engineers and other officials in the effort to mobilise fund for the liberation struggle, the outfit said, "Today it is common practice among sycophant contractors/suppliers to try to buy out connection with any Party capable of securing contract works.

Such contractors, in the greed for easy money, do not have any moral compunction to inject poison into their benefactor Party against other Parties.

This is one of the factors standing against the unity among the parties" .

"Actually, it is an indication of changing equations in corruption once centered among the Engineers/Ministers of the puppet state government to the revolutionary organizations," it said, adding that while a change in power centre in favour of revolutionary struggle is welcome, the shifting of corruption will be disastrous and should be resisted.

Adding that the competition for grabbing contract works creates various frictions among our Parties and thus sidelines the basic issues of the liberation struggle, the UNLF statement said, "This is not a correct practice which has done more harm than good to our struggle".

The outfit further claimed that both state and central security forces are taking advantage of the rather chaotic situation, and extracting their share.

"What is disturbing in this phenomenon is the degeneration of our inherent strength for self reliance because of the corruption in contract/supply works of the Indian system and the emergence of decadent culture for grabbing easy money," it added.

(to be continued ...) .

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