Politics / Manipur

Imphal, May 29: The Revolutionary Peoples Front (RPF), political arm of the banned Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) of Manipur, today brushed aside any idea of talks with Delhi, saying peace would return to the state only after withdrawal of “the colonial rule of India”. Immediately after assuming charge, the new Union minister for department of development of northeastern region, P.R. Kyndiah, had appealed to the militant outfits of the region to shun violence and come to the negotiating table.

Assistant publicity secretary of the RPF, Lily Leima, alleged in a statement issued here today that...

IMPHAL, May 29 – A youth front on Saturday threatened to launch a series of agitations if Manipur Government failed to revoke its decision to extend disturbed area status of the state under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act 1958 from June 1. Talking to mediapersons here, president of Manipur Forward Youth Front (MFYF), Sapamcha Kangleipal said the organisation would call an 18-hour ‘general strike’ from midnight of Sunday to lodge protest against the state government’s decision.

Condemning state Cabinet’s decision last week to prolong the disturbed area status, Kangleipal said it was “very...

IMPHAL, May 28 – Manipur Government has decided to extend “disturbed area status” of the state for another six months from June 1 in spite of strong protests from various social organisations and communities, official sources said today, reports PTI. The decision to prolong the status under Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958, was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh here yesterday in view of the deteriorating law and order situation, the sources said.

They said the Act which was first imposed in September 1980 in the state had been in extension from time to...

IMPHAL, May 27: In third such attack, militants struck at the residence of Manipur Urban Development Minister L Nanda Kumar Singh here, but no casualty was reported, official sources said today. Two militants riding a two-wheeler lobbed a bomb at Singh's house at Nagamapal area at 8.30 p.m yesterday.

The minister was not at his house at the time of attack as he was present at his official residence at Lamphel area, 4 kms from here. The bomb fell short of its target and went off near a neighbour's house damaging a portion of it.

The attackers then fled from the spot, the sources said adding...

IMPHAL, May 24 – The Manipur Police is likely to give the finishing touches to the ongoing massive manhunt in the Sajik Tampak area in the Southern Chandel district bordering Myanmar to flush out insurgents. Army troops have been carrying out combing operation since mid-April in and around the Sajik Tempak area, over 100 km south of Imphal near the Indo-Myanmar border. A brigade headquarter of the Army, comprising the 29 Madras Regiment, 7 Sikh light infantry and 9 Rajput Rifles, has been installed at the Chakpikarong area in the southern Chandel district for intensifying their counter...

Imphal, May 23: BJP’s Manipur unit president Th. Chaoba Singh today said he had offered to step down, owning moral responsibility for the party’s poll debacle in the state. The former Union minister of state for youth affairs and sport, who returned here from New Delhi yesterday, said the national leadership of the party had rejected his offer to step down as state unit chief.

He had made the offer to BJP national president M. Venkaiah Naidu in New Delhi after the results of the two Lok Sabha seats of the state were announced. Chaoba Singh said Naidu told him that it was not the right time...

Imphal, May 13: Thokchom Meinya Singh of the Congress beat nearest rival Moirangthem Nara Singh of the CPI, a partner in the ruling coalition of Manipur, with a huge margin to bag the Inner seat. Counting for the Outer will be held on May 19. Immediately after his election, which saw the sitting Lok Sabha MP Thounaojam Chaoba Singh of BJP relegated to a poor fourth, Meinya Singh said Manipur’s territorial integrity would top his agenda as a parliamentarian. “I will not compromise on the issue of Manipur’s territorial integrity,” he told a party celebration at the state headquarters, Congress...

IMPHAL, May 13 – Dr Thokchom Meinya of the Indian National Congress (inc) has succeeded in wresting the Inner Manipur parliamentary constituency in the 14th Lok Sabha polls from three times sitting mp, Thounaojam Chaoba of the Bharatiya Janata Party (bjp) by a landslide margin. Chaoba, a former Union Minister of State for Sports, had been elected as mp thrice on a Manipur State Congress Party (mscp) ticket. He also won the same seat on a Congress ticket in 11th Lok Sabha. But he was defeated this time.

Dr Meinya, who is also the Higher and Technical Education Minister with the ruling Congress...

Imphal, May 12: The proscribed United National Liberation Front (UNLF) today accused the army of disturbing peace in Sajik Tampak in Chandel district of Manipur since it launched counter-insurgency operations there and vowed to “fight to the last”. Reacting to the army’s declaration of continuing its operations, the outfit in a statement said, “The Indian occupational force says they are here to stay. We say we are here to fight to the last.”

The statement, signed by the assistant publicity secretary of the outfit’s central committee, accused the army of scripting fake encounters, executions...

Imphal, May 11: It will be a roller-coaster ride for Manipur chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh when he implements the new anti-defection legislation, which limits the size of ministries. According to the new law, the size of the Manipur ministry would be limited to only 12 members. The deadline for implementing this is July 7.

At the moment, the Secular Progressive Front (SPF) ministry has a total of 33 ministers, of whom 25 are of cabinet rank. The CPI, the other partner in the coalition, has five members and all of them are ministers — three of them of cabinet rank.

Ibobi Singh is well...