MANESWAR, Oct 16 ? After keeping Manipur on the boil for the last three months and the Centre clueless, Apunba Lup spreading the agitation for withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Act (AFSPA), has agreed to come to Delhi for talks.
This piece of news has come as a major relief for Union Home, Shivraj Patil who almost lost his job for inept handling of the situation in Manipur and Assam besides Jammu and Kashmir. With the Left Parties openly gunning for his head and Congress Party too feeling nervous about the internal security scenario, Sri Patil was desperately looking for a breakthrough in the North-East.
The pressure on the UPA was intense with Left Parties sparing no forum to express its dissatisfaction over handling of the situation in Manipur and the inaction in Assam in the aftermath of the spate of bomb blasts. The issue figured prominently in the last round of UPA-coordination committee meeting where the Union Home Minister presented a status report on the situation in the North-East.
Now with the situation in Manipur stabilising and Apunba Lup conveying its decision to resume dialogue with the Centre, the outlawed NDFB declaring a ceasefire, things are beginning to look better for the Union Home Minister. The Ministry also got cracking and created a post of adviser for Manipur Affairs with the approval of the Union Cabinet.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has zeroed in on Rajkumar Phalguni, a 1972 batch IAS officer of Karnataka cadre and belonging to the Royal family of Manipur. Sources said that he was very highly regarded figure in the Meitei community and would exclusively advise the Union Home Minister.
A visibly relieved Sri Patil told newsmen here yesterday at the headquarters of the National Security Guard (NSG) that after series of meetings with the Manipur Government, the Apunba Lup has agreed to visit Delhi to talk to the Centre.
?They have conveyed their willingness to the State Government to come for talks to Delhi,? Sri Patil said. Union Home Minister further deferred with the assessment that talks with Apunba Lup, an apex body of 32 organisations, had broken down in Manipur last month. Talks had remained inconclusive and Centre has not rejected their demands, he said.
?If anyone has feeling that injustice has been done then we have to talk to them to remove the misconception,? he said.
?Contrary to the common perception about handling of the situation in Manipur, we had not imposed President?s Rule, did not remove the Chief Minister, ensured that security forces did not open fire on agitators,? Sri Patil said taking a dig at the media for holding him responsible for the mess in the State.
The Union Home Minister on Thursday briefed UPA chairperson, Sonia Gandhi about the measures taken by his Ministry to tackle the situation in Manipur and Assam and spend hours with the members with the AICC Media Cell explaining the recent steps.
On the offer by the NDFB, Sri Patil said that if they are interested the Centre was willing to talk and Assam Government has been asked to engage them.
When asked who should be held responsible for the deteriorating situation in the North-East, the Union Home Minister said that the Centre, the State Governments and above all the underground outfits could be held responsible for it.
But he added that phenomenon of terrorism was not unique to North-East or Jammu and Kashmir and low intensity war was on all over the world. ?Politically we have to examine the root-cause of the problem,? he said.
When asked about the non-cooperative attitude of Bangladesh, Sri Patil without going into details said that India was extorting pressure at various level on the country to act against the North-East based insurgent groups.
The issue is going to be taken up with the Bangladesh Foreign Minister, Morshed Khan, who is arriving early next month to invite the Prime Minister for Dhaka SAARC Summit.
The Prime Minister was also likely to take up the issue of presence of rebel camps and insurgent leaders with the Prime Minister of Bangladesh on the sidelines of SAARC Summit next January.
Sri Patil, meanwhile, confirmed that issue of North-East based rebels was going to be taken up with the Premier of Myanmar, General Than Swe who arrived in Delhi next week. His visit prompted the Union Home Minister to postpone his tour of Jammu and Kashmir to next month.