Imphal, February 24: Reacting for the first time to the four point proposal put forward by the Central Committee of the UNLF to the Indian Government, if it wants to resolve the Indo-Manipur conflict, Chairman of the Revolutionary Peoples' Front, I Chaoren today said that the RPF will wait and watch the response of the Government of India to the proposal.

In an address to the people on the occasion of the Independence Day Demand of the outfit which falls on February 25, Chaoren said that the RPF will also closely watch the moves of the UNLF.

However the PLA, which was formed as the future armed force of Manipur, will never abandon its arms or deposit them with anyone even if there is a cease fire with the Government of India.

RPF will never settle for anything less than the total sovereignty of Manipur, said the outfit's leader and added that it is the aspiration of RPF to ensure that the people are free from the shackles of foreign rule and can lead a peaceful and dignified life.

"We understand what India means when they say that it wants to start a talk," said Chaoren and questioned, "If India really wants to talk things over, why is it on the other hand sending in more and more security force".

If India can work out a process sincerely knowing fully well the aspirations of the people, then the RPF will also reciprocate, added the RPF leader.

The RPF chairman went on to say that fratricidal killings and the game of one upmanship amongst the people of the soil is contrary to all revolutionary ideologies and added that rivalry and confrontation between the armed groups will not serve any purpose.

Rather it is only the enemy who will reap dividends from such a situation and alienate the people from the freedom struggle.

The time calls for all armed groups to respect each other and forge a united stand.

The wisdom to forgive and to lend a helping hand in times of travesty is the need of the time, observed the RPF leader.

On Operation All Clear, Chaoren appealed to the people not to be taken in by the propaganda floated by the Indian security force and added that merely recovering some discarded arms and running over a deserted camp should not be taken as breaking the backbone of the armed resistance.

The PLA is waging a guerilla warfare against the Indian armed forces and as such the PLA will meet the challenge of the Indian armed forces according to the time and convenience.

During the last 26 years, the PLA has faced many operations launched by the Indian armed forces and the latest is nothing much more than testing the strength of the armed groups, said the address and added that the Indian army should realise that today the PLA is a fully equipped fighting force which can meet the challenge of the Indian Army.

Since the Indian Army cannot meet the challenge of the armed groups in Manipur, it has sought the help of Myanmar.

This should not cause any worry to the people as Myanmar knows the intention of the Indian Govt and as a sovereign country Myanmar will not agree to be dragged into a conflict concerning India.

Chaoren however admitted that the Myanmar army had launched an operation at Sagaing division and Chin State bordering Manipur.

However the offensive was nothing more than a crackdown on the armed groups of Myanmar which is the internal matter of the neighbouring country not connected to any operation against outfits from Manipur.

RPF knows that development cannot come about without peace but the peace should be decided by the people of Manipur and not something imposed by the Indian Government, said the statement.

Manipur is still under the yoke of Indian rule and as long as this persists, the peace that Indian is talking about will have no meaning, observed Chaoren.

For 2000 years Manipur existed as an independent country and over 500 wars were fought with Myanmar to protect the sovereignty of the land and there is no reason why it should be lost now, said the RPF Chairman.

These battles were fought so that the people may live in peace and prosperity.

Even aware that defeat was at hand, the brave sons of the land took on the mighty British force, said RPF and added that the Nationhood which was nurtured by the ancestors with a clear cut boundary should be protected at all cost.

At a time when India is bent on compromising with the territory of Manipur and trying to portray the armed conflict as an internal matter, the question of peace within the Indian Union is a far cry, added the RPF leader.

Even though Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin were conferred the Nobel Peace Prize for their endeavour to bring peace, peace is still elusive in Palestine because of the conflict with Israel, Chaoren reasoned.

Training its guns on the political leaderships, the RPF leader said that Manipur was merged with India with connivance of some India educated persons of the land who came to don the mantle of Congress leaders.

Even today there are a number of followers of this class of people, said Chaoren and added that it is because the people have been shackled for so long that all the people have not able to come out as one to join the armed struggle.

Chaoren said that the present system that passes off as a democratic Govt in Manipur is not related to anything concerning the people and reasoned that it is precisely because of this that the political leaders of Manipur are playing to tunes of India while leaving the people to their own peril.

The RPF leader also congratulated the brave women of Manipur who rose as one to denounce the killing of Th Manorama and the demand for the revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act.

Noting the attempts of the Prasar Bharati to make all Manipur related programmes in Hindi, Chaoren said that this is nothing but another attempt to foist Hindi on the people and exhorted the people to work for the development of Manipuri language.

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