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The Union Home Ministry's refusal to endorse the Manipur Government's unilateral cease-fire with militants is likely to have an impact on relations between the National Democratic Alliance ally, the Samata Party, which heads the government, and the Bharatiya Janata Party, as well as peace initiatives with Naga insurgent groups.
Manipur's People's Front Government had declared a unilateral cease-fire with 18 militant groups on March 1, calling it a goodwill Holi gesture. It was also a way to earn the goodwill of the people by the Radha Binod Koijam-led government, which assumed power in the trouble-torn state in February after several defections, adjustments and realignments among the 59 legislators.
Koijam had defected from the Congress to the Samata Party, with 11 of 12 MLAs who were elected on Congress tickets.
Koijam and the Samata leaders plan to approach Prime Minister A B Vajpayee. Koijam feels let down as the cease-fire had been initiated by the state government
Koijam had met Home Minister L K Advani on March 30 in his North Block office. The home minister, at the 45-minute meeting, reportedly expressed dissatisfaction at the ``unchanging'' law and order situation in the state and said the way to tackle the Manipur militants was to fight them out.
Koijam, it is learnt, pleaded with Advani to endorse the cease-fire, as it was showing results. The chief minister is now staying put in the city, waiting for an audience with Vajpayee.
Manipur's cease-fire was announced in February by Koijam, after the first cabinet meeting he chaired as chief minister.
The move took the Centre by surprise, as the home ministry was kept out of deliberations. But what upped the ante against the state government was when, after an all-party meeting in Imphal early this week, Koijam extended the cease-fire by a month. The 60-member assembly shoved aside North Block's argument that the ground situation with militants had not improved sufficiently to go in for an extension.
Reports from Imphal said that the Army and paramilitary Assam Rifles had called off the 15-day truce it had offered to rebels in early March. A series of pre-dawn raids were carried out by security forces in Imphal east district on Monday, defence sources said.
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