The ban which was imposed on the central projects in Manipur by the
United Naga Council (UNC) in furtherance of its demand for an
alternative arrangement outside the Manipur government has been lifted
from 5 pm on Wednesday. This was announced by the publicity wing of the
UNC in Imphal on Wednesday.
For a long time the UNC has been demanding an alternative arrangement
for the Nagas in Manipur saying that they no longer want to stay under
the "communal government" led by Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh.
There had been blockade, general strike and other forms of agitations demanding the alternative arrangement.
The Union government has been holding talks with the representatives of
the UNC and the Manipur government in this regard. The sixth round of
talks was held in Delhi on August 30 among the representatives of the
Union government, the Manipur government and the UNC. The UNC says that
during the talks the representatives of the Union government had urged
its representatives to lift the ban on the central projects so as to
take the process to the political level within two months.
The UNC discussed the proposal in a meeting held on Tuesday. It was
decided that the ban would be lifted from Wednesday. The announcement
says that the ban on the Trans Asian Railway Line and power grid is
lifted appreciating the firm and sincere intention of the Union
government to end the stalemate stemming from the UNC demand.
However the ban on the "exploitive and divisive" projects which are
undertaken without prior consent of the land owners and which have
displaced or will displace people will continue. The projects include
seismic survey for oil exploration, the Mapithel multipurpose dam,
Chakpi Karong multipurpose dam.
