IMPHAL, May 23: Prime Minister I K Gujral appears eager to resolve the insurgency problem. But a solution to the Manipur crisis will continue to elude the Centre till such time as it draws a concerted plan to negotiate with the key players of all the armed outfits operating in the State. The Centre will also have to initiate substantial economic measures to alleviate the people's sense of neglect.

This view is shared by both politicians and security officials in the State. In fact, it had been the dominant opinion here even when Gujral's predecessor, H D Deve Gowda, made attempts to negotiate with the Issac-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN), the outfit spearheading the Naga offensive against the Kukis of Manipur.Gowda's meeting with Issac Chishi Swu and Thuingelong Muivah in Zurich did not create any ripples in this State where people maintain that the NSCN (I-M) is already battle-weary. Many of its top functionaries have either been arrested or killed.

``Simply negotiating with one outfit is not going to sort out the mess. The Khaplang group (the other NSCN faction), which enjoys the covert support of the political leadership in Nagaland, has to be tackled,'' an Army officer observed, conceding that the problem could not be solved through only Army operations.

``In Manipur, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the United National Liberation Front (UNLF) still hold sway. The PLA continues to talk about uniting people of the Mongoloid stock. The People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) may not be what it used to be but it still has some following. There are also the Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) and the Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL),'' adds the officer.

``All these groups have to be considered. There is no unity among these outfits and in a situation where even counter-insurgency policies are not clearly defined, it is certainly going to be a difficult task.''

The officer also admitted that the intense local resentment against the Army had a lot to do with the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, which everybody here calls a black law, one which ``allows security men to get away with excesses''.

The security forces, operating in extremely hostile conditions, continue to invite flak for violation of Human Rights. The recent public outcry after a woman was raped, allegedly by two jawans of the Mahar Regiment, saw the Army hold a summary general court martial. The proceedings, still on, are being closely monitored by the local Press and the public.

In this State, people have lost count of the number of outfits that have surfaced ever since the legality of Manipur's merger with the Union in October, 1949, was questioned. Those opposed to the merger never fail to recall how Maharaja Bodhchandra Singh was whisked away to Shillong and forced to sign the merger document. It is said that the merger, signed on September 21, was kept a secret till the announcement on October 15. Since 1992, insurgents have been calling a bandh in the State on October 15.

The UNLF was floated in 1964 by A Somorendra while the PLA was launched by Bisheshwar Singh in 1978. The mid-'70s had seen groups of Meitei youth return to the state after training in China.

In recent years, the UNLF caught the public eye when it compelled government officials to return rice consignments which had been sold in the black-market. The guilty were even made to confess in local newspapers.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.