Imphal, November 23 2010: Confiding that the loss of Chairman Sana Yaima's able stewardship is a sad development for the UNLF as well as the armed struggle, the Central Committee of the United National Liberation Front (UNLF) stated that this sad development has only invigorated the party to continue the fight against the alien rule with more urgency and intensity.

Greeting the people of Manipur on the occasion of the outfit's 46th birth anniversary which falls on November 24, the central committee salutes the people for their support and solidarity towards the armed struggle to dislodge the alleged colonial occupation and restructure "our collective political destiny" .

Chairman Sana Yaima has been abducted recently in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, and has now been handed over to the Indian Government.

But regrettably both the Governments are keeping the matter under wraps, violating all international norms.

This represents a worsening scenario in terms of the sympathy and support for liberation struggles in immediate international environment of the Indo-Burma Region due to the shoulder rubbing policy of India and its implications for the continued presence of revolutionary cadres of the region in Bangladesh, the central committee observed in their annual statement.

The Central Committee respects Bangladesh's political choice though this marks a regrettable rupture with the legacy of Bangladesh's founding father, Bangabandhu, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Stating that the party would not be daunted by alleged abduction of Chairman Sana Yaima, the central committee informed that they are ever more determined to collectively carry on the struggle to the best level.

This is a confidence that the UNLF and its Central Committee has earned in 46 years of leading the armed struggle for liberation of Manipur.

Talking about the outfit's achievements and setbacks, it remarked, "Militarily, we take legitimate pride in the area control we established in large parts of the hill areas in Manipur by keeping the Indian army at bay over an extended period starting from February 1997 to March 2008" .

Among the disappointments and setbacks suffered by the party, the most glaring one is adventurism which manifested in diverse forms in the course of the long armed struggle.

One common link that runs through all these is the issue of centrality of the people be they in the hill or the plain areas of Manipur in the process of liberation both in terms of the political and mindscapes.

Stating that liberation in the true sense of the term begins and ends in the mind of the individuals that make up the collective, and that empowering these minds ought to be the primary objective of the liberation process, the outfit confided that many a times "our interactions with the people have tended to display a lack of respect for the people and patience with their ways".

"The Central Committee regards this insight as a significant though painful learning and henceforth intends to realign all processes of our armed liberation struggle to the twin goals of empowering minds and dismantling the external colonial controls", it conveyed.

The Central Committee further realizes that the party's commitment to plebiscite as a mechanism to resolve the ongoing conflict with India floated by Chairman Sana Yaima would need to be recalibrated in the light of the above insight.

Highlighting this point, the Central Committee, reaffirmed the commitment to plebiscite as a conflict resolution mechanism.

Another important learning for the Central Committee is that the people, both as individuals and as a collective, must take the responsibility for their political choice and that they need to decide firmly how important is the possession of a distinct sense of identity for them and their sense of self-worth.

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