Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, November 24 2010:
The Central Committee firmly believes that all sections of' people, who hold their distinct sense of identity dear, including those who are waging an armed struggle for national liberation, can and should join hands in addressing this issue.
True commitment to 'the cause of national liberation and true unity towards this end would become meaningful only on a shared basis of a people-friendly and empowerment-oriented work ethics and outlook, the outfit asserted.
The threat is not confined to the Meitei society alone.
For quite some time now, Manipur has been a divided self with the people in the hill areas contesting the idea of the historical Manipur.
The Central Committee of the UNLF can understand the discomfort of the smaller nationalities at being part of a state with hegemonic proclivity of the majority Meiteis and their consequent aspirations for carving separate homelands.
At the same time, the Central Committee holds that splitting the geographical space called Manipur endlessly for separate homelands is not the solution.
Oppression is not just an internationality phenomenon, but can equally be an intra-nationality one.
It is the considered view of the Central Committee of the UNLF that the challenge is more of locating the political and institutional arrangement that respects and promotes multiple identities and their creative self-expression in all spheres of life.
The Central Committee further invited fraternal nationality groups to respond to the real challenge and jointly explore and negotiate the evolution of such an arrangement.
The challenge at the level of the Indo-Burma Region for the liberation struggle is not confined to the dwindling support and sympathy as manifested in the abduction of Chairman Sana Yaima.
It also extends to the gathering clamour for peace talks with India amongst fraternal revolutionary organizations in Manipur and the region.
The Central Committee, however, firmly believes that peace is a mirage so long as the structures of oppression are not dismantled.
This clamour for peace talks is a temporary cycle and that the abiding imperative of liberating lands and minds will prevail ultimately.
The Central Committee also underscored its commitment to the task of keeping faith with the most cherished human aspiration of leading lives with self-confidence, respect and freedom, the hallmark of liberation.
The Central Committee extended warm revolutionary greetings to party cadres and local members, officers and men of the MPA, and to those who are languishing in enemy jails and to the families of those who have laid down their lives and those who continue to be in the forefront of the struggle and to the people in general who have stood by the values and ideals that the UNLF is fighting for.
Extending warm revolutionary greetings to the fraternal revolutionary organizations now fighting against alien rule in order to regain Manipur's sovereign independence, the central committee called upon all concerned for unity in the struggle.
The outfit further conveyed special greetings to the countries, CSOs and human rights NGOs supporting the cause of 'Right to National Self Determination' and also to the international media for giving objective coverage of the Manipur-India conflict.