N Biren Singh, Manipur’s chief minister, said the state aims to end its decades-long insurgency problem in the next five years.
It was a ‘homecoming’ ceremony for surrendered militants at the 1st Battalion Manipur Rifles in Imphal.
One of the Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) members and 13 members of the banned Kangleipak Communist Party-PWG laid down their arms on Thursday before the government.
Through political dialogues and schemes for surrender-cum rehabilitation, Singh said the state has already started convincing various insurgent groups to surrender. “The goal is to end insurgency within five years,” he said.
According to Singh, insurgency problems in Manipur have caused unrest since the 1960s. However, the number of incidents associated with insurgency has significantly declined under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the last five years.
Further, he stated that people had begun to show a sense of nationalism. A large number of people participated in this year’s Independence Day celebrations and the Har Ghar Tiranga Campaign, which displayed the people’s love for their country, he said. It is crucial to modify how insurgent groups are dealt with to make them mainstream, according to the Chief Minister.
Having warned that some vested interests are playing ethnic-based politics to paint a bad picture of the state, he appealed to citizens to work together.
Neither a bullet nor an FIR will be filed against militants who want to resume normal lives and become part of society unless they’re involved in a heinous crime, Amit Shah said.
It turned out that the surrendered cadres had two grenade launchers, three 9mm pistols, three IEDs, two detonators, two radios, and five extortion notes.
