Imphal, Mar 5 : Manipur chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh called on Union home minister P. Chidambaram in New Delhi last evening in the backdrop of the Centre’s talks with the NSCN (I-M).
The home minister is understood to have briefed Ibobi Singh on the progress of the talks.
An informed source here told The Telegraph that during the meeting, Chidambaram reassured the Manipur chief minister that “the Centre would not do anything that would create more problems in the Northeast”.
Chidambaram’s stand is on the lines of the one maintained by the Union home secretary G.K. Pillai during his Imphal visit on February 26 that a solution to the Naga issue would not create more problems.
In a related development, Manipur’s major rebel group, the Revolutionary Peoples Front (RPF) today joined the chorus against any move to disintegrate Manipur as a fallout of the ongoing political dialogue between the NSCN (I-M) and Delhi.
The RPF, a political body of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA), said its executive committee last month resolved to support the struggle for freedom of Nagaland, but decided to oppose any design to break up Manipur as a result of the political dialogue.
“The meeting also decided to face boldly any design by the NSCN (I-M) to strain relationships among revolutionary groups in the region,” T. Leisemba, the secretary publicity of the RPF, said in a statement.
The statement said the NSCN (I-M) cadres had gunned down two rebels of the RPF and injured another on October 19 last year. The latter was shot dead while he was being taken to hospital.
Following the incident, the RPF reviewed its policy and decided to fight any move of the NSCN (I-M) to break up Manipur and strain relations among fraternal groups.
The outfit’s stand against any attempt to divide Manipur came in the wake of reiteration by the United Committee Manipur (UCM) that it would not allow breaking up of the state. Besides, Okram Ibobi Singh government’s stand on safeguarding the territorial integrity of Manipur also motivated the group.