Unilateral truce likely in NE

NEW DELHI, March 5: The Centre is under pressure of the insurgency affected States of the Northeast to declare a unilateral ceasefire with all the underground outfits operating in the region on the line of the peace initiatives taken in Jammu and Kashmir. Under increasing pressure of the Northeastern Chief Ministers to declare ceasefire with all the insurgent outfits a reluctant Centre may finally concede. With the issue of extension of the ceasefire with the Naga outfit again assuming centre stage, the Chief Ministers of Assam Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh have prevailed upon the Prime Minister to go for a unilateral ceasefire in the region. The idea, however, does not find favour with the Ministry of Home Affairs with officials familiar with the region seeing little possibility of such a truce working. They point out that the ceasefire agreement with the NSCN(IM) has held because of the ground work and preliminary work that went into the agreement. On the other hand, a unilateral ceasefire announcement by the Government of India without any preliminary groundwork and informal understanding with the outfits has little possibility of working as majority of the outfits are likely to continue with their activities, an official said. But with the overwhelming mood in the region swinging in favour of such a truce offer, the Centre may be forced to change its stand on the issue. The recent statements by the Union Home Minister, L K Advani after his visit to Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland is an indication in this direction. The Chief Ministers of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur in their separate meetings with the Prime Minister over the last weekend also hammered the same point. They prevailed on the need to include all the insurgent outfits within the peace process underlining the need for the Prime Minister to take the initiative without waiting for the response from the underground outfits. According to available indications, the Centre is shortly likely to announce ceasefire with NSCN(K) faction in the Parliament to give a fresh boost to its initiative in the region. The Army it may be mentioned here already has a ceasefire agreement with the Khaplang faction, though the Government of India was yet to formalise it. Meanwhile, the Manipur Chief Minister, Radhabinod Koijam addressing a press conference here today said he has requested both the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister to declare unilateral ceasefire with the insurgent outfits without any geographical limit. The Chief Minister, who met the Central leaders last Friday said if the Centre still wanted to confine its ceasefire agreement with only the NSCN(IM) faction then it was for the Central government to decide but Manipur should be kept out of the purview of the ceasefire agreement. The Chief Minister's opposition was to the extension of the area of the ceasefire to cover Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur, as demanded by the NSCN(IM). The other two Chief Ministers, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta and Mukut Mithi also echoed the same line. The Assam Chief Minister told this newspaper that he has conveyed to the Prime Minister that the Centre should take the advantage of the ceasefire with the NSCN(IM) to engage other insurgent outfits including the ULFA in negotiations. Koijam who winded up his visit to the Capital here today told newsmen that he has requested the Centre to raise a Manipur Regiment on the line of the Naga Regiment. The Manipur Chief Minister, however, said the Prime Minister has not revealed his mind though he is hopeful of a favourable decision.